Press Play
by FangirlofMany9503
Summary: Bakugo, AKA Ground Zero, was a famous YouTuber loved (well, mostly) by all. Until his identity and juvenile records got leaked online. But he decides to reach out to the one person he sees who still supports him, and eventually develops a bond with said person.
1. 1

"Okay...camera's up, lights are set, and...perfect!" Eijiro Kirishima stepped back from his recording setup with a huge, toothy grin, admiring his handiwork.

He'd just bought a new camera, and had finally gotten the chance to set it up. His life was pretty hectic, between managing his part-time job and his growing YouTube channel, and he rarely had the time or energy to do anything that wasn't a part of his usual regular routine.

Today, however, was special. He'd came home from work, ready to set up his new camera and record more videos to edit later. But then his phone started blowing up, and as soon as he checked it he knew he had to make a video about what was going on.

Ground Zero, the YouTuber who had originally inspired Kirishima to start his own channel, had gotten his identity leaked. His real name was apparently Katsuki Bakugo, and the person who'd found it had spread it to every corner of the internet.

Ground Zero had always been different from the usual happy-go-lucky YouTubers. He cussed, screamed, raged, and made it a point to never smile, especially on camera. At every interview he went to, he acted the same he did in his videos; standoffish and snarky, and maybe that would seem rude to most people, but to his fans, it was just the way he was. But when his haters found out that those same aggressive tendencies had gotten him into huge trouble when he was younger, they immediately jumped on the chance to call him out about it.

Kirishima had read all the articles and he knew what people had found, but he wanted to explain on camera why he was still going to support his idol. So as soon as he had gotten everything set up, he sat down, making sure he was camera ready first, and pressed the record button.

"Hey, guys!" He grinned and waved cheerfully, doing his normal introduction before getting into the serious stuff. "So...today's video is gonna be different. I'm sure you've all heard about what happened with the bigger YouTuber, Ground Zero. Now, some of you longtime viewers of mine probably know that Ground Zero is the one who inspired me to start making videos, and because of that I'll always really admire him. But I want to talk about this stuff, and tell you guys why I'm gonna continue to support him."

He pulled out his phone then and tapped on the original Tweet that had set the internet ablaze, holding it up to the camera for it to focus. "Katsuki Bakugo, AKA, Ground Zero, was apparently arrested when he was fifteen years old. Now, I've got no way of knowing if this is all true or not since I'm just going off of what I've seen online. But he was evidently arrested on aggravated assault charges because he got into a fight with a classmate and the guy had to be hospitalized. Which, to be clear, is not okay, and I'm not trying to condone stuff like that, believe me. And from what I've seen, he was sentenced to six months of juvie and then did community service too? All I'm saying is...well, it's in the past, you know? God knows everybody makes mistakes, and some people just make bigger mistakes than others, I guess. But it's also not okay for people to judge someone because of something that happened ten years ago. I'm sure he's grown up a lot since then, and probably severely regrets whatever it was that happened."

Kirishima sighed, glancing away from the camera lens. "Anyways, this video wasn't meant to be particularly long, so I think I'll end it here, but...well, just think about that, okay, guys? Alright...bye, guys, I'll see you next time!"

He reached over and pressed the button to stop recording, then leaned back in his chair with a dramatic sigh. "I'm probably gonna lose a bunch of subscribers for this..." He mumbled, then shook his head. "But it doesn't matter, because this is way more important than my numbers!"

He sat up and immediately set to work editing the footage. He made a quick and easy thumbnail and uploaded the video to his channel. Since it was a short video, it only took a few minutes to upload. Almost instantly, his phone began to buzz consistently, telling him people were posting comments on his latest upload.

But it was incredibly late, and Kirishima was utterly exhausted. So he decided to turn his phone on silent before setting it face down and collapsing on his stomach in bed. He was asleep mere minutes after his head hit the pillow.

The next morning, Kirishima woke up to his alarm like usual, and reached over to grab his phone and look through his notifications. He swiped aside all notifications from people commenting on last night's video, instead focusing on other stuff.

But then he came across a Twitter DM he'd received a few hours before. At first glance, he didn't think it was anything special, until he saw the username of the sender.

**ground_zero****@kingexplosion**

**We should talk about that video you did.**

"Oh my God." Kirishima's pulse erupted in his ears, and he threw off the covers with a grin to jump around his room excitedly. "Oh my God, Ground Zero messaged me, oh my God!"

After he'd gotten over his little fanboy outburst, he composed himself enough to send a simple response.

**You mean the video about your leak?**

Shockingly, the reply came nearly immediately.

**No shit, Sherlock. I wanted to thank you, I guess. You're the first person I've seen who hasn't thought I need to go to a fucking prison cell for the rest of my miserable life.**

Kirishima frowned. Was that true? Was he really the first one to say he still supported him? **Even if I was the first to say it publicly, I'm sure there are others who feel the same. This isn't going to ruin your entire career.**

**I beg to differ, but that's not why I messaged you. I want to meet up with you.**

Kirishima's heart skipped a beat. **You mean, like, in person?**

**Damn, are you stupid or something? Of course I mean in person, dumbass! I want to give you the whole story about what happened. I saw your video and what you said about me being your inspiration, and I can't have that kind of shit on my conscience.**

So he just wanted to give him the details so he wouldn't feel guilty? Kirishima supposed that made sense, but he couldn't deny that he was still excited. How could he not be? This was his idol he was talking about, the one who had dragged him out of his depressed state of mind back when he'd been in middle school. Ground Zero had always been there for him if he was feeling particularly low. He had saved his life.

**Alright, I'd be glad to meet up with you sometime. Do you have a place in mind?**

**That depends, where do you live? I live in Musutafu.****Dude, same! What a coincidence, huh?**

Kirishima could practically see his signature eye roll with his next reply. **Yeah, sure, cool. There's this small cafe that's ran by someone I know. We can meet there. Does today work for you?**

**Yeah, today's good since it's my day off! Just send me the address and time and I'll be there.**

**Good. We'll meet there at noon today.** And then he sent the address before logging off.

Kirishima couldn't wipe the grin off of his face. He set his phone down and flipped nack on the bed, smiling into his covers. _Ground Zero_ had just asked to meet him. He was going to meet Ground Zero today.

"I've gotta be freaking dreaming." He mumbled to himself.

***Uhhhhhhh, surprise? I really wanted to make a full book for Kiribaku, not just oneshots, and this is what I came up with. It's loosely inspired by another Kiribaku YouTuber AU I read, but the plot will be totally different. Anyways, this was a lot of fun to write, so I hope whoever happens to read this enjoys it! See ya next time, bye!!***


	2. 2

***Before we begin this chapter, I need to clarify; I am an IzuOcha AND a Tododeku shipper, and I usually flip between the two pairings in my books. In this book, it's Tododeku, but I also have a oneshot posted that mentions IzuOcha being together, and I didn't want anyone to be confused. I ship BOTH. Also...this probably goes without saying, but y'all's feedback is what got me to update so soon xD pro tip, if you want an update from me, comment. Comments or reviews, whatever, they always make me excited to write and share it with my readers. Just a hint for future reference. Alright, and now the chapter!***

The cafe, as usual, smelled like coffee and freshly baked pastries. Walking in around 11:30, Bakugo wrinkled his nose as he made his way to the counter to talk to Deku and Half and Half. Deku was the one working the counter today, and he smiled as Bakugo approached him.

"Hi, Kacchan!" He waved. "You want the usual?"

"Yeah, and make it two. I've got someone coming."

"Like a date?" Came the monotone voice of Deku's boyfriend.

Bakugo grit his teeth. "No, not a fucking date, ya half and half bastard, this is work stuff, damn it!"

He was unfazed by Bakugo's outburst, as usual. Instead, he just nodded and disappeared back into the store room without saying a word.

Deku handed him two steaming cups of coffee. "Don't mind him, Kacchan. So is this about...you know, the leak?"

Bakugo looked away and nodded, not wanting to look the freckled idiot in the eyes. The leak had brought back a lot of memories he would have preferred never to remember again. Those had been bad times for him, and he'd done some really stupid shit. He'd hoped it would never come back to haunt him, but some jackass online just had to go and crush that hope.

"It'll work out." Deku tried for a reassuring tone. "After all, it was a long time ago. I'm sure people will understand."

Bakugo scoffed. "If you think that, Deku, then you haven't been on the internet very long. I gotta go, see ya around I guess."

"Good luck, Kacchan!" Deku called with a cheerful wave as he turned to take a seat and wait for Red Riot to arrive. It would have been impossible to miss his trademark neon red hair and shark-toothed grin, and sure enough, he recognized him the second he walked through the door.

"Oi, you!" He called, standing up to get his attention. When he saw him, he broke into a grin and came over.

"H-Hi!" His voice was a little shaky, but Bakugo ignored it and handed him the other cup.

"You're early." He said.

"Oh, ah...yeah, I..." He laughed nervously, rubbing at his neck. "I didn't really have anything else to do, so...well, I figured it was cool to come early. C-Can I sit?"

"Course," Bakugo kicked the opposite chair out with his foot. When he had sat down, he extended his right hand towards him. "So, you already know this, but I'm Katsuki Bakugo, better known as Ground Zero."

He grinned again and shook his hand. "Ei-Eijiro Kirishima, also known as Red Riot! And I just gotta say, it's really awesome to be meeting you."

Bakugo took a drink of his coffee. "Thanks...I guess. Now let's just get this started, alright?"

"Ah, yeah...of course. Go ahead, I'm listening."

Bakugo took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair before beginning. "When this shit happened, I was fifteen..."

~~~~~

"_Kacchan, wait up!"_

_Bakugo growled under his breath and sped up, trying to lose the nerd currently gasping for breath as he tried to catch up to him. It was no use; the nerd was pretty damn fast for someone so fucking scrawny.__"I...was trying...to find you!" He gasped out when he'd caught up with him. "Where are you going?"__"None of your fucking business, Deku!"__"Oh, come on, Kacchan, don't be like that. Your mom wanted you to head back home right after school, didn't she? Are you going there?"__"Fuck no."__"What do you mean, Kacchan? Won't you get in trou--"__"Go the fuck away, shitty nerd!" He snapped, speeding up his gait once again. Deku annoyingly kept up with him, only making him angrier and angrier the longer he did.__"I said leave me the fuck alone!" He shouted, coming to a complete stop on the sidewalk, and drawing the attention of several other people who were walking around them.__Deku looked shocked, and unsure about what to say. "I...Kacchan--"__"Stop fucking calling me that!" He tossed his bookbag to the ground and got up in his face, fists clenched in anger.__He flinched away, trying to back off, but Bakugo was beyond angry, he was furious now, and he needed to do something to vent out all that anger. He reached out and snatched ahold of Deku's wrist, digging his nails into his skin.__"K-Kacchan, please, y-you're hurting me!"__"Shut the hell up! Why do you keep following me around everywhere I go? Don't you know when you're not fucking wanted?"__"I-I--"__Bakugo couldn't stand listening to him stutter anymore. He reared his fist back and slammed it into Deku's face. He cried out in pain and tried to struggle away, but Bakugo wasn't going to let him, especially not now.__He was livid, and Deku was right there, the perfect thing to use as a punching bag to vent his anger. He punched and punched and kicked and kicked, seeing nothing beyond the red clouding his vision.__He didn't stop until he heard someone shouting at him, and moments later rough hands grabbed his wrists and wrenched them behind his back. He growled, turning over his shoulder to try and yell at whoever was holding him back, but froze whenever he saw the dark blue uniform and shiny badge.__"That's more than enough to get you arrested, kid!" The officer shouted, and Bakugo was rendered speechless as he felt cold metal cuffs being latched around his wrists. He was hauled onto his feet, eyes wide as he watched people gather around Deku's limp form, lying bloody and beaten on the sidewalk.__"W-Wait--" He tried, but he was ignored. The police officer was pulling him backwards in the direction of his squad car, and he was roughly pushed into the backseat, the door slammed in his face.__"What..." He finally managed to get out, but it was much too late now. "What the fuck did I just do?"_

~~~~~

Kirishima didn't seem to be aware of the fact that his jaw was hanging open in surprise, and it was irritating Bakugo immensely. When he had finished telling the story of what had happened, he sat for a full minute, waiting for him to say something, but he stayed silent.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "If you think I'm a fucking psycho now, then just say so, damn it."

Kirishima blinked, having been knocked out of his stupor. "U-Uh, no, that's not it, I swear! I was just...wow..."

Bakugo scoffed. "Yeah, wow. After that, I got sent to juvie for six months, and then I did community service for another five. It sucked, but I learned my fucking lesson. I've gotten a lot better now, and that was the only to something like that has ever happened. But people on the internet don't give a damn about that."

"I...don't really know what to say. Is...he okay? The guy you...uh..?"

"He's fine now." Bakugo nodded his head towards the counter, where Deku was still smiling as he served customers. "He had to be hospitalized for about a month after that, but he wasn't even mad about it. Damn nerd's too nice for his own good."

Kirishima smiled. "That's good, though, isn't it? I mean, it seema like you and him are friends now, right? So everything's good."

"I'm not--" He caught himself with a heavy sigh, sitting back in his chair. "Yeah, you're right, I guess. Everything worked out, and since then I've gotten better at dealing with my anger. I was a fucking stupid kid is all, and I fucked up big time, but that was ten years ago. I just don't want my entire life to fall apart because of this."

"I get that." Kirishima said, his tone completely serious. "And people shouldn't do thia kinda stuff, you know? Your past mistakes shouldn't be what defines you."

"Thank you." Bakugo grumbled. "There's not much I can do, so I'll just have to hope the staff sees it the same way you do."

"Have you contacted them about it yet?"

Bakugo nodded. "Yeah, I sent an email pretty much as soon as I saw it and explained everything I just told you. If they say I'm good, then I'm going to put up a video talking about it and let the rest of the assholes hate all they want."

Kirishima nodded. "That's good! I'm sure the staff will be understanding, especially since you didn't hesitate to explain everything. And look on the bright side, man, this gives you the chance to find out who your real fans are."

"Real fans...huh. Guess I never really thought of it like that." Bakugo finished off his coffee and stood up to toss it out. "Thanks, by the way." He called back over his shoulder. "For hearing me out. It...means a lot."

"Well, pf course! How could I not?" Bakugo clicked his tongue and made a split second decision. He held up a finger to tell him to.wait before hurrying yo th counter and snatching a ballpoint pen from Deku's apron pocket. Then he returned to the table and scribbled his phone number down on a napkin, handing it to Kirishima when he was done.

Kirishima looked confused. "Uh...wh--"

"It's my fucking phone number, weird hair." Bakugo looked away as he felt his face heat up. Normally, he wouldn't do something like, but he felt oddly drawn to this guy with his stupid, spiky red hair. He didn't want this to be their last conversation.

Kirishima still looked a little confused, but he took the napkin and tucked it into his jacket pocket. "Thanks a lot, really! So...does that mean we can still talk?"

"Yeah, I guess. Just don't go texting me to cry about a damn goldfish dying or anything, because I'll fucking block you so fast you won't remember having me in your contacts, weird hair."

He laughed and nodded. "I promise I won't bug you too much. So, guess I'll text you later?"

"You'd better, dumbass, otherwise I won't have your fucking number."

"Right, sorry. Anyways, bye!" And with that, he was gone. Bakugo sighed and leaned back in his chair.

There was something about that guy, Eijiro fucking Kirishima, that made Bakugo wonder how he ever got through his days without seeing such a sunny grin.


	3. 3

*******Okay, first of all, I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the support I've been shown on this book. Seriously, it means so much, y'all don't even know. And second, I need to quickly point out that I have no idea how the actual YouTube staff would handle a situation like the one portrayed in this book, so don't quote me, and don't hate if I'm doing things wrong. It's all for the story. And now without further ado, the chapter!*******

Days passed, and the situation only continued to get worse and worse. Kirishima made sure to keep an eye on the Ground Zero leak to see if anything new arose. Bakugo's silence on the matter, even though Kirishima knew he just wanted to wait on a response from the YouTube staff, was only making matters worse. Kirishima had tried telling him that, but he had insisted on sticking to his original plan.

Kirishima had been right about one thing, however. After he released his video, he became a part of the ordeal as well. Some people online had started talking about how he made a good point and how they shouldn't judge Bakugo because of a past mistake. But those people were still plenty outweighed by the ones who hated him now.

Kirishima kept up with the whole thing as well as we could, but refused to talk about it in any other videos he'd made since the first one had been posted. It wasn't until a week after he'd met with Bakugo that he ever received a message in response to the one he'd sent to give him his number.

He was at work, but it was a relatively slow day, so he'd been sitting at the counter and scrolling through Instagram when his phone chimed, and he nearly leapt from behind the counter. The name Bakugo was written across his screen, and he tapped the notification immediately.

**Are you doing anything later?**

Kirishima furrowed his brow, glancing up to check if there were any customers before turning his attention back to the phone. **Not that I know of. Why?**

**Meet me at the cafe today at five thirty. I'll explain when you get here.**

**Okay, but what is this about?**

**I said I would explain when you get here, so be fucking patient.**

Kirishima was about to try again when he heard someone clear their throat, and looked up to see a customer waiting on him. He shoved his phone in his pocket and began apologizing profusely, promptly ringing her up and letting her leave. After that, he decided to just wait until he met with him to ask what it was about and focused on work.

An hour later, at four forty five, his shift ended, and he went back home to change clothes before making his way to the cafe. When he arrived, he looked around for Bakugo's spiky ash blond hair, but didn't see him anywhere. Feeling awkward, he made his way to the counter to order a coffee while he waited.

"Hi!" The cheery, green headed guy who was working the counter smiled in a warm greeting. "Hey, I recognize you. You're Kacchan's work friend, right?"

"Kacchan?" Kirisima asked, confused, and he flushed.

"Ah, s-sorry, I meant Bakugo, yeah. I just call him Kacchan because I've known him since we were little."

"Oh, yeah...you're Midoriya, right? He told me about...well, I'm sure you know about the leak."

Midoriya nodded, nervously scratching at his arm. "Yeah, I know...but that was a long time ago, Kacchan and I are really good friends now, even if he won't always admit it. A-Anyways, Kacchan should be here soon, so what can I get for you in the meantime?"

"Just a black coffee." Kirishima said, digging some money from his pocket and handing it over. Midoriya gave him his order with another warm smile before moving onto the next customer.

He went to sit at the same table they'd sat at the first time they met up here and settled in to wait on Bakugo. Kirishima scrolled through some of his comment sections to pass the time, and before he knew it he heard the sound of the chair across from him scraping across the floor.

Kitidhima looked up to see Bakugo, and he looked irritated. "Sorry I'm late," he grumbled as he plopped down into his chair, pulling a black laptop carrier bag from off his shoulder and bringing out the laptop inside. "I figured I'd beter show this to you." He turned the laptop around and clicked on an email so it filled the screen.

Just from reading the first few words, Kirishima knew why Bakugo looked so irritated. It was an email from the YouTube staff to him, and its contents were far from satisfactory.

**Dear Mr Bakugo,**

**We have read and discussed the email you sent in regards to what has happened recently, but we need more time in order to decide on a plan of action. In the meantime, you will not be allowed to monetize any videos you post on the site, and any payments that have yet to be received for recent weeks will be delayed until further notice. We're sure you can understand why we must do this, and assure you we will get back to you as soon as we come to a final decision.**

**Sincerely,**

**Team YouTube**

Kirishima reread the email twice before pushing the laptoo back towards Bakugo. "They're seriously taking your payment?"

Bakugo nodded with his teeth grinding together as he shut the laptop and returned it to his bag. "Yeah, those fucking idiot bastards. I'll be okay for about a month at least, but after that if this shit is still happening, I'll have to find some other way to get money."

"I'm sure they'll get back to you before then." Kirishima tried to sound reassuring, but in all honesty he had no idea if they would or not. After all, he'd hardly ever had to contact the YouTube staff. His channel of around 500,000 was just a baby compared to Bakugo's 10 million.

"We'll see, I guess." He groaned.

"So..." After a few minutes of awkward silence, Kirishima decided to bring up tge thing that had been bugging him for a while now. "Can I ask why you wanted to neet up with me again? I mean...I honestly figured the first time would be the last, so it kinda surprised me when you asked to see me again."

Bakugo didn't look up from the tablecloth as he spoke up. "Dunno," he mumbled. "Guess I just wanted to rant to someone who knows about this sort of shit. You're...really the only other YouTuber I've talked to more than once."

"What, seriously? B-But...you go to the events and everything, and there are lots of other YouTubers there. You mean to say you never talk to any of them?"

"Tch, most of em are jerks anyways. Why the fuck would I wanna make friends with them?"

"They can't all be bad." Kirishima started to say before something dawned on him. "Hey, wait, does that mean...did you say you wanted to make friends with me?"

Was he blushing? It kind of looked like it, but Kirishima couldn't tell since hishead was still turned to the side. "You're not so bad, I guess." He grumbled after a while, bringing Kirishima to grin.

"You really mean that, man? Holy crap, that's so awesome! So, can I call you Bakubro now or what?"

Bakugo bared his teeth and slammed a fist onto the table. "Do it, and you're fucking dead, Shitty Hair!"

Kirishima burst out laughing. "Alright, okay, fine. Then...just Baku?"

"Fuck no!"

"Bakubabe?"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Fine, fine...ooh, I know!" Kirishima snapped his fingers excitedly. "I'll call you Kat!"

"Kat? What the fuck--"

"You know, like, short for Katsuki?" Kirishima grinned. "And hey, you can call me Ei!"

"I'll call you whatever the fuck I want to, Shitty Hair."

"And I'm glad to call you my friend now, too, Kat!"

***I'm...gonna be totally honest. I'm not entirely sure what direction I want this book to go in? It may take me a bit of time, but I'll figure it out, like I always do because who has the time to plan out a story before publishing? I mean, I have the time, just not the patience or willpower. Anyways, it's midnight and I have school, so I'll be posting this and then heading to bed. And thanks again for all the comments/reviews!***


	4. 4

From then on, Kirishima and Bakugo started meeting at the cafe almost every day after Kirishima got off work. They tried to avoid the topic of the leak, and instead talked about other stuff. Bakugo seemed especially interested in hearing about how Kirishima had first started making videos.

He insisted on hearing every detail, but Kirishima tried to skirt around the parts about being inspired by him because he was embarrassed. He told him about how he'd gone through a really rough phase in high school, but got through it by using videos to cheer himself up.

"That doesn't seem healthy." Bakugo grumbled at one point. "You're saying you just pretended to be happy and all that shit while you were actually depressed?"

"No no, definitely not!" Kirishima scratched his neck. "Making videos just made me happy, you know? It was fun, and it made me forget about all the bad stuff, at least for a lite while. And a couple months after I graduated, my channel started getting more recognition. I decided I wanted to make videos for a living, and so I didn't go to college. I got a job, and I've been doing that ever since."

Bakugo grunted. "How old are you, anyway?"

"I'm twenty. You're twenty one, right?"

"Yeah. What, did you Google my birthday or some shit?"

Kirishima blushed. "M-Maybe..."

Bakugo didn't seem to know how to respond, so instead he changed the subject again. "Alright, then fine, tell me when your birthday is, Shitty Hair."

"M-My birthday?" It took Kirishima a second to collect himself enough to hear what he'd said. "Oh, uh...it's October 16th."

"It's August,"

Kirishima frowned. "Uh...yeah? What does that gotta do with anything?"

"Idiot, that means your fucking birthday's coming up."

"Oh!" Kirishima's stomach began doing flips. Bakugo actually cared about his birthday? Kirishima himself didn't usually care to celebrate it. Normally, he just spent the day with his mom and sister.

Bakugo rolled his eyes. "Dumbass,"

"Sorry," Kirishima laughed nervously. "It's just that I don't really celebrate my birthday all that much."

"And why the hell not?"

Kirishima shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno, man. I just never got too excited about it, ya know? My mom and little sister always tried to make it into a big deal, but I never liked it."

He huffed. "Fine, whatever." And he dropped the subject, although Kirishima still felt like he hadn't entirely forgotten about the conversation.

August turned into September, and Bakugo had still yet to receive anything from the YouTube administrators. The discussions had died down online, and some people were speculating that Bakugo had quit making videos altogether. It was clearly driving him crazy, and Kirishima felt like he needed a distraction of sorts.

So, on one Saturday when he was supposed to be meeting Bakugo at the cafe, he texted him ahead of time with an address and told him to meet him there. Bakugo asked why, but when Kirishima refused to say he didn't protest.

Kirishima stood outside of the giant arcade, hugging his jacket sleeves to him for extra warmth while he waited on Bakugo to arrive. It usually got cold fast in these parts, but it never failed to surprise him just how fast the weather changed.

After a little while, he recognized Bakugo's car pull up and park next to the curb. He raised a hand in greeting as he trudged up to him, his face set in his permanent scowl. "An arcade?" He asked when he was standing next to him. "Seriously?"

"Yeah!" Kirishima exclaimed, slinging an arm over his shoulders with a grin. "They've got a bunch of stuff here, not just games. I used to come here all the time with my friends Denki and Sero. I think you'll like it."

Bakugo didn't say anything, but he followed Kirishima inside the building nonetheless. Immediately, loud music and colorful strobelights overwhelmed their senses, and people were everywhere, laughing and joking amongst themselves.

Kirishima grinned at the atmosphere and grabbed Bakugo's hand. "Come on, Baku, let's go!" He dragged him over to the token machine and pulled his wallet out of his pocket.

"Hey, Shitty Hair, why the fuck are you paying?" Bakugo asked as he had been reaching for some money. He glanced up and gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I be paying?"

"I can pay, dumbass." Bakugo tried to put him aside,but Kirishima wasn't about to let him. He pushed him back again and shook his head, waving a fifty dollar bill.

"No way, man! How am I supposed to let you pay when I'm the one who invited you here? And besides, you should save your money."

Bakugo looked like he wanted to protest further, but eventually he gave in and let Kirishima pay for their tokens. They each got fifty, and headed off to look for games to play. It was a rather large arcade, as Kirishima had said, and they didn't just have games. There was also a bowling alley, a laser tag arena, a virtual reality booth, and bumper cars.

They went around from game to game, almost always dominating high scores with ease. By the time they started running low on tokens, they were up to their ears in tickets. Kirishima did his best to put them somewhere neatly, but it was pretty much impossible with the amount they had.

When all their tokens were gone, Kirishima suggested they see what the prize counter had to offer. This particular arcade was centered more around teenagers and young adults than it was children, so they usually didn't keep the standard toys you'd find in other arcades, which was another reason Kirishima liked the place so much.

But evidently the place had been busier than the boys had realized, because they were out of stock of pretty much everything. The only things available were things that held no interest to either of them. In the end, they found a group of teenagers, maybe thirteen or fourteen at the most, and handed over the tickets to them instead.

After they left the arcade, Bakugo decided to take the lead, and directed Kirishima over to his car. Kirishima frowned as Bakugo climbed into the driver's seat and turned to look at him.

"What the hell are you waiting for, Shitty Hair?" He asked. "Get in, we're going somewhere."

"Are you sure?" He asked, still hesitating.

Bakugo growled, grinding his teeth together. "I said get in, so fucking do it already! Damn..."

"Okay, okay..." Kirishima hesitantly opened the passenger side door and climbed into the car. As he'd expected, it was a nice car, but Kirishima couldn't imagine it having costed more than any other average vehicle. Bakugo wasn't really the type to try and show off with an overly-fancy car.

Neither of them spoke as Bakugo put the car in reverse and pulled out of the arcade parking lot. From the radio, Kirishima could hear music playing on low volume. It was already dark outside, and the lights of the dashboard glowed, illuminating Bakugo's face.

Kirishima didn't even realize he was staring, he was so fixated on watching the subtle shifts in his expression as he drove. When he stopped at a light, without fail, he would always reach up and run a hand through his spiky hair. At one point, some idiot sped past them at the same light, and Bakugo growled, gritting his teeth.

He slammed his hand on the steering wheel and sat up straight to shout out the window. "Hey jackass, you're gonna get yourself fucking killed doing that crazy shit!"

Kirishima couldn't help but laugh, trying to hide his grin. Of course Bakugo would have road rage, it made perfect sense. Bakugo noticed something was off and turned to Kirishima with a frown.

"What's your problem, Shitty Hair?!" He demanded, and finally Kirishima couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"I don't know what's so fucking funny, but I'll fucking throw you out of this car!"

"Okay, okay!" Kirishima forced himself to calm down, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "You've got some really bad road rage."

"The stupid jackass ran the fucking light!"

Kirishima burst out laughing again, and Bakugo decided to ignore him, grumbling to himself as he pulled into the parking lot of another building. Kirishima took one look at the sign and tensed up. "A...bar?" He asked, getting slightly nervous now.

Bakugo turned off the car and faced him with a blank expression. "Yeah, a bar. I'm gonna buy you a drink for taking me out. I know you were just trying to distract me from all this YouTube shit."

Kirishima felt his face grow warm, partly from embarrassment and partly from flattery. Bakugo really was an amazing guy, once you got past his explosive tendencies.

"Alright...I guess..." Kirishima was still nervous. He knew how he acted when he got drunk, and it was never pretty. But if he watched himself, everything should be fine.

"Good. Now come on." Bakugo said, getting out of the car without waiting for a response from Kirishima. He hurried to unbuckle and follow behind him, starting up another thread of random conversation as they headed inside the bar.

***Oh my God this got super long haha, I'll have to write the bar scene in the next chapter. I hope no one minds. I still don't have a plot outline for this yet because procrastination but I'll try and get to it soon. I hope y'all aren't too bothered by my lack of consistency. Trust me, of you plan to stay a while, you'll get used to it. I don't know what an update schedule is, and I greatly admire those who have one and keep to it. I could never. Anyways, hope you liked this part and have a good night/morning/day/evening...? It's night for me, so good night all!***


	5. 5

Kirishima was somewhat surprised when they entered the bar to see that it was almost completely empty. Sure, it had seemed pretty small from the outside, but he couldn't imagine so few people would want to come here.

Bakugo seemed to pick up on his surprise and smirked. "Not many people here, huh? Yeah, I like it better that way. Most of the people who come here are older, so there's next to no chance I'll get recognized. I'm just another customer."

Kirishima's eyes widened. "Really? That's awesome! Recently people have started recognizing me on the street, too, and I'd never turn down a fan, but sometimes it is kind of frustrating."

Bakugo nodded and led them towards the bar, where only one guy was sitting, eyes glued to the TV screen above his head. He tapped the countertop as they sat down to get the bartender's attention. "Oi, bartend, two beers."

The bartender wasn't even remotely fazed by the rude greeting, simply sliding two bottles towards them and accepting the money Bakugo handed over in return. Kirishima took one of the bottles and popped off the cap. He'd never really been a fan of alcohol in general, but he wasn't about to refuse a drink someone else had bought for him, especially not Bakugo of all people. So he steeled himself and took a big swig from the bottle.

Immediately, he started coughing, and Bakugo laughed. "You good, Shitty Hair?"

Kirishima pounded on his chest and nodded, trying not to let Bakugo see his eyes start to water. "Y-yeah...I just don't drink too often is all."

Bakugo grunted, taking a drink from his bottle. "Me either, if I'm being honest. But lately I've been really stressed. You already know why."

"Mhm." Kirishima frowned. He'd been hoping a fun trip like tonight would lift the stress off of him, even if it was just for a couple of hours.

"Don't look so fucking down, Shitty Hair." Bakugo snapped. "I wouldn't have brought you here if your little plan didn't work. Spending the evening with you was...fun, to say the least. I'm not so stressed out about all this YouTube shit. So thanks...or whatever."

Kirishima's spirits soared after hearing that, and he perked right up. "That's great! I'm really glad I could help out, even if it's just by distracting you for a while!"

Bakugo grunted again, and they lapsed into silence as they sat together, listening to the faint sound of music and the television blending into each other. Kirishima was perfectly content to stay there all night long with him, but unfortunately a quiet buzzing sound from Bakugo's pocket announced that he'd received a notification on his phone.

With a groan, he tugged the device out and swiped up on the screen to check it. Immediately, his eyes widened and he slammed his half empty bottle on the countertop. "Holy...fuck, they just emailed me."

"Really? What's it say?"

Bakugo's eyebrows furrowed, and his lips slowly turned down in a heavy frown. "It says...they want to do a video conference call tomorrow to talk about the situation. Then they'll make a decision."

Even to Kirishima, a smaller content creator who had personally never had to interact with the staff just yet, that didn't sound very good. His good mood started slipping away. "Oh..."

Bakugo grit his teeth and shoved his phone back in his pocket. "Whatever. It's not like it matters. Whatever happens is gonna happen, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it."

Kirishima blinked. To put it simply, that wasn't the kind of reaction he'd been expecting. He'd half expected Bakugo to call an end to the night right then and there, but instead he was acting like the email had never happened. Despite that, Kirishima wasn't about to complain; it felt nice, like Bakugo liked being around him enough to want to avoid his problems with him.

"What the fuck are you staring at, Shitty Hair?" Bakugo's voice tore him from his thoughts. "Quit looking so fucking surprised. I just said I was having fun, didn't I? Why the fuck would I let some stupid email ruin that?"

Kirishima shook off his surprise and grinned. "Alright...cool!"

Bakugo grunted. "Took you long enough. Now, you want another or what?"

Bakugo woke up the next morning with a small headache. He'd had worse hangovers before, but it didn't mean the pain didn't put him in a bad mood right from the start. He spent at least fifteen minutes lying in bed and staring at the ceiling above his bed, thinking about the previous night he'd spent out with Kirishima and dreading the conference call later that day.

* * *

It was weird; he usually couldn't stand spending too much time around Deku and his friends, much less someone he'd only met a few weeks ago. But with Kirishima, he felt different. Kirishima was a dorky goofball with a constant smile and a tendency to brighten up every room he set foot in. Bakugo had been tempted to ask him to stay over just so they wouldn't have to part ways last night.

"Gah, what the fuck am I saying?" Bakugo smacked himself on the cheek to snap him out of his own head. "You sound like a lovesick fucking schoolgirl. Snap the fuck out of it, you bastard."

He got up and started getting ready. He wasn't an idiot, so he knew he needed to make an effort to look presentable for the conference call. He grabbed a decently nice button up black shirt and a pair of blue jeans, then headed for the shower. After showering he got dressed and ran a comb through his hair, not that it did much to tame the unruly spikes, but at least he'd tried. After that, he checked the time. It was eleven twenty. Forty minutes until the conference.

He ate a bowl of cereal before settling himself in front of the computer and preparing himself for the storm he knew was about to come. Whatever happened, whether he was getting permanently banned or if they were going to try and pretend like the whole thing had never happened, Bakugo wanted to be ready for it. He would just have to save a meltdown for when there were no cameras around.

It seemed like only a few seconds had passed when his screen was suddenly lit up with a video call. He took a deep breath before clicking the answer button. An image of a woman with her hair tied back in a ponytail and wearing a black T-shirt with the YouTube logo on it filled his screen. She smiled when he answered.

"Hi, Mr. Bakugo!" She greeted him cheerfully. "My name is Ruri Minamoto, but you can just call me Ruri. Are you ready to start?"

Bakugo took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Alright! So, we looked over everything regarding the leak, and we've came to a decision. We've decided to fully reinstate you as a content creator under a few conditions."

Bakugo's stomach did a one eighty, but he wasn't about to let him get ahead of himself. "What are my conditions?"

The woman reached off screen and picked up a piece of paper. "I'm sure you know that this has greatly affected your current subscriber count. There are a lot of people who want you removed from our system completely, but we're willing to give you another chance. All we ask is that you make a full apology video explaining, in detail, what happened ten years ago. Until that video goes up, we will continue to withhold your access to monetization. We still expect there to be plenty of people against you even after this, but as long as the apology video goes up, we won't be terminating you. Does that sound fair?"

Bakugo had been planning to make an explanation video anyways, so he didn't have a problem with their terms. In fact, he was kind of surprised. He nodded, trying hard to fight back a smile. He wasn't getting fired. He could get past this.

The woman grinned. "Great! Then it's settled. Once your video goes up, you'll be completely reinstated. Good luck, Mr. Bakugo!" And with that, the screen went dark once again. Bakugo leaned back in his chair and let out a breath, rubbing his face with his hand.

"Holy shit," He breathed after a moment. "I can't fucking believe this. I didn't get fired."

Not even trying to hide his smile now, he sat forward and brought up his recording software. He wanted to get this video out as soon as possible. He was so ready to be done with this shit.

If only he'd known then just how much worse the situation would get from there.


	6. 6

***In all honesty, this should have been done in the first chapter, but I kept forgetting. I wanted to mention the book this was originally inspired by. It's called Excuses, by kiri-shine on Wattpad. Y'all should definitely go check it out, because it's absolutely amazing! As far as I'm aware it's still in progress, which is also awesome because, like, it's one of those books you just never want to see end. So definitely go give it a read. I guarantee it's probably better than mine xD Anyways, next chapter!***

Kirishima was changing out of his work uniform for the night when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Yawning, he reached over to grab it and tapped the notification bar. Immediately, his fatigue faded as he saw what the notification was.

**New upload from Ground Zero: "Let's Talk"**

The thumbnail was a full view picture of Bakugo's face, and instantly Kirishima knew it had to be the explanation video he'd been talking about. He saved the video to his watch later and rushed out of the staff room, barely stopping to call a goodnight to Kaminari in his hurry.

Once he got into the privacy of his car, he brought up the video, too impatient to wait until he got home to watch it. The video was around ten minutes long, but that was okay. Kirishima pressed play and settled in to watch it.

"I'm not even gonna fucking bother doing an introduction today." Bakugo's familiar voice filled the silence. "I'm sure everyone knows what this is about, but on the off chance you don't for some reason, I'll explain. Some fucker on Twitter decided he was going to dig up parts of my past I ain't proud of, and lo and behold, he found something big. Like I said, I'm not proud of it, and if there was anything in my entire fucking life I could go back and fix, it would be that. But that's impossible, so here we are. So, yes. When I was fifteen, I was charged with aggravated assault and spent six months in a juvenile detention center, and another three doing community service. I was a really stupid teenager, and I had problems controlling my anger. The person who I hurt is fine now, in fact, he's probably one of the few people I'd actually call my friend. But for some reason, I couldn't stand him when we were in high school. If I could go back and knock some sense into my younger self, I would, believe me, but as things stand, all I can really do is explain the whole situation for you all."

From there, he went on to tell the same story he'd told to Kirishima weeks ago. He couldn't help but feel incredibly happy for Bakugo. By the end of the video, he was smiling so wide it started to hurt a bit.

"And that's that." Bakugo finished. "Thanks for listening, and I'll see you all next time." And the video faded out to black.

Kirishima snatched his phone and scrolled down to the comment section, wanting to see how many people were still upset, because he was sure there were still a few left.

But as he kept scrolling, his happiness started to slip away. Every comment he saw said basically the same thing.

**I always knew he was a thug. Now he's just trying to get pity. He should get arrested again.**

Does** he think we're stupid? He clearly hasn't gotten any better! Send this man to the nuthouse!**

**He thinks because he's famous, he can get away with anything? Someone call the police, he needs to be stopped!**

"What is wrong with them?" Kirishima muttered to himself. "Can't they see how sincere he is?"

Every comment was the same, and Kirishima got more and more worried by the second. After around five whole minutes of scrolling, he made himself exit the YouTube app and went to his contact, clicking on Bakugo's number.

**I saw the comments on your video. Do you want some company?**

He wasn't expecting a response, so the soft buzz tone surprised him. When he pulled it out to check the message, however, he knew Bakugo must have been taking this badly.

**Yes. I'm at my apartment.** And he added the address to the complex and his apartment number.

Immediately, Kirishima put his phone down and pulled out of the parking lot, headed for the address Bakugo had sent him. He was too worried about him to even think about being nervous about going to Bakugo's home.

It only took a few minutes for him to find the complex. He parked his car and grabbed his phone before rushing inside. At the front desk, he gave the apartment number to the desk worker, and she told him it was on the third floor. Kirishima thanked her before turning for the stairs.

He knew he'd found the right apartment before even reading the number just from the sounds of yelling and objects being thrown around. He slowly reached out and knocked on the door, unsure if he would even hear him over his own shouting.

After knocking, however, the sounds stopped, and a few seconds later the door swung open to reveal an obviously furious Bakugo. His face was bright red, his hair even messier than usual, and his clenched fists were shaking at his sides.

He didn't say anything, but he left the door open for Kirishima to let himself in. Kirishima shut the door behind him and followed Bakugo as he walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge with a lot more force than necessary.

"Here," He spat and slammed the fridge door, shoving a bottle of water into Kirishima's chest. Then he moved to the couch and plopped himself face down on it. Kirishima frowned, taking a look at the damage around the apartment.

He could see broken glass scattered in front of the kitchen sink, as well as what looked like a broken vase on the end table beside the couch. Other random objects seemed to have been thrown across the apartment. There were throw pillows in the hallway, handfuls of pens and pencils strewn across the floor, and the door Kirishima guessed was to his bedroom had a sizable dent in it, probably from being punched.

Slowly, Kirishima walked over and sat down on the arm of the couch, right above where Bakugo had placed his head. He could see him breathing hard, but his face was completely hidden in the couch cushions.

"I'm sorry," He blurted out after he finally couldn't stand the silence anymore. "People suck."

Bakugo snorted and lifted his head, and for the first time Kirishima saw that his crimson eyes were rimmed red."That's the biggest fucking understatement I've ever heard, Shitty Hair."

Kirishima laughed, but it was quick to fade with the current mood. With a sigh, he stood in sat down next to Bakugo on the couch, squished between him and the arm. "I really am sorry." He said, softer now that they were closer. "I wish there was something I could--"

"Stop." Bakugo ran a hand over his face. "Just stop fucking talking. Just...sit there and keep me company. That's what you're here for."

Kirishima nodded, ready to lean back and wait for Bakugo to relax, but he surprised him by leaning over and resting his head against his arm. Kirishima's pulse sped up a bit, and his face heater up. When he glanced down, he saw that Bakugo's eyes were already shut.

He was extremely close, and while Kirishima was certainly surprised by the gesture, that wasn't to say he didn't like it. In fact, he found that he liked the feeling of the blond's weight resting up against him. It was weirdly soothing.

He half expected Bakugo to sit up, so he was further shocked when a minute turned into five, and then ten. When Kirishima looked down again, Bakugo's expression had smoothed out, and he was softly snoring with his mouth slightly open. He'd fallen asleep laying against him.

Kirishima barely even realized he was smiling. He decided he liked this softer side of Bakugo, although what exactly that meant, he wasn't sure. But right then, he didn't really care. All he cared about was the feeling of Bakugo leaning against him, completely relaxed and fast asleep.

***So...I wanted to do some fluff before we get into the bad stuff. I'm still not entirely sure just how far I plan on taking said 'bad stuff' but I am sure that I will anger a bunch of people haha Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed, and see you next time!***


	7. 7

When Bakugo woke up, the first thing he noticed was that the room was dark save for a sliver of light coming from the bathroom. The second thing he noticed was that he was on the couch in his living room, and there was somebody else with him.

He remembered, then. Everything that had happened. After posting the video, he'd logged off of everything for a couple hours and took care of things around the house. He cleaned up and ate something for lunch before going back to the computer to look at the comment section on the explanation video.

That was when his day got ruined.

He'd completely lost himself to his anger and frustration. People could just never be satisfied, could they? Nothing would ever be good enough for them. When he'd gotten the text from Shitty Hair about an hour afterwards, the thought of turning him down hadn't even crossed his mind.

Now, here he was, probably much later than he'd originally intended to stay, fast asleep there with him to keep him company. Bakugo hardly remembered how they'd ended up in the position they were in, but he wasn't about to complain when Shitty Hair's chest was so fucking comfortable.

He looked back towards the wall with the clock and saw that it was just past two in the morning. He didn't want to wake up Kirishima, so instead he slowly got to his feet and trudged to the bathroom. He thought about trying to bring Kirishima to lay in his bed, since it was the least he could have done, but decided to just let him sleep.

In the end, after he was finished in the bathroom, he returned back to the same spot, this time pulling his legs up onto the couch too and resting his head in Kirishima's lap.The new position was even more comfortable than the previous had been, though Bakugo would never admit it.

It only took him a few minutes to fall back asleep. Being with Kirishima had a calming effect on him for some reason, making it easier to relax. His rational mind was telling him he'd be facing the awkward consequences in the morning, but at that he was just too damn comfortable to give a damn.

~~~~~

He woke up a second time several hours later, and sat up only to find that Kirishima was already wide awake, and his face was almost as red as his hair. He huffed, getting to his feet and stretching his sore limbs from the awkward positions. "The fuck is your problem, Shitty Hair?" He asked groggily.

"N-nothing!" He stammered. "I-It's just...k-kinda hot in here, ya know?"

Bakugo tched, turning to head for the kitchen and taking two bowls down from the cabinet. He knew exactly why Shitty Hair was so red, and it had nothing to do with the heater. And if he thought about it too much, he would start getting red too, so he tried not to.

"Cereal alright with you?" He asked.

"It's fine." Kirishima said, suddenly appearing beside him.Bakugo tried not to think about how close he was, instead focusing intently on preparing the food for the both of them. When he'd finished, he placed both bowls on the island counters and sat down on the stool.

Kirishima sat next to him with his bowl, and as they ate an awkward silence settled over them. Kirishima's constant nervous fidgeting only made it that much worse.

After ten whole minutes of it, Kirishima finally seemed to break. He cleared his throat and let out an obviously forced laugh. "So, uh...how are you doing? You know...with the reactions to your video yesterday, I thought--"

"I'm fine." Bakugo snapped. "Not like it's my first time dealing with haters."

"Yeah, but..." Kirishima leaned over until Bakugo could see his face, morphed into an expression of concern. "This is different, Bakugo."

If it had been anybody else, even Deku, he probably would have blown up at them and forced them to leave, but this was Kirishima, and he just couldn't bring himself to do that. Kirishima jist wanted to help him, and Bakugo couldn't get mad at him when he had that look on hia face. It was virtually impossible.

"Bakugo?" Kirishima's voice made him realize his hand was shaking, and he dropped the spoon into the bowl and used his hands to cover his face. He didn't want Kirishima to see his expression.

"Bakugo!" Kirishima's voice sounded slightly panicked now. "A-Are you okay, dude? Bakugo!"

"I'm fine!" Bakugo snapped again, but his voice cracked, giving him away.

He felt Kirishima's hand come to rest on his back and start rubbing gentle circles. "Hey...I-It's okay. I know this is difficult...well, that's probably a huge understatement, but--"

"Kirishima, shut up." Bakugo mumbled, and he did.

After a few more minutes Bakugo used to compose himself, he lifted his head and turned to face his redheaded friend. "I know I'm being an ass, so...I'm...sorry about that. It's just that...I don't know what to do. I just want to know what I need to do to fix this."

Kirishima frowned and moved his hand from his back to wrap it around his shoulders. Bakugo fiund himself leaning into the embrace as his eyes began to sting. "I know." Kirishima's voice echoed from how close the two boys were to each other. "I wish I could do something to make them see. They just don't understand."

Later, he would never admit it, but Bakugo started to cry, tgen. He couldn't stop once he'd started, and a part pf him expected Kirishima to start thinking less of him for it, but he did exactly the opposite. He stayed there and comforted him for the rest of the morning.

***I'm really sorry for a short chapter (not even 1,000 words gahhh) but I'm going to be super busy this week and probably won't have much time to write, so I wanted to post something before the craziness begins tomorrow. More angst to come! Thanks for reading, I love y'all!***


	8. 8

***So, funny story. Y'all remember how I said last time that that next week would be super busy and crazy? Well, I was right. It's currently Thursday, and I stayed home from school today. You know why? I'm sick. Pretty simple, right? Y'all wanna know how I got sick? I GOT SICK FROM EXHAUSTION. I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THIS WAS FUCKING POSSIBLE. I had an FFA competition on Wednesday, and I had to wake up at 4 AM in order to catch my bus on time. I have trouble sleeping, so I went to bed early, but it didn't help much. Needless to say, I was exhausted all day long after only getting about 1-2 hours of sleep. Not to mention I was stressed about the competition itself because I'd forgotten my script and couldn't practice. Finally, I got back home, and tried to take a nap. Failure. I ended up lying in bed staring at the ASL poster on my wall for two hours. After that, I got up to eat something, and I had a headache. I thought this was normal considering how little sleep I'd had, but about twenty minutes after eating, while I was watching One Piece, it started getting worse. Another ten minutes later, I start feeling sick. Five minutes later, I threw up. Afterwards, my mom had to help me downstairs to my room because I was dizzy, and I laid down for the rest of the night until I finally fell asleep around midnight. When I woke up this morning, the first thing I noticed was that the room was upside down. I snoozed my alarm for ten minutes, and when I woke up again I was nauseous. I went upstairs, promptly threw up for a second time, and told my mom she would have to drag my to school by my hair. That said, I've gotten more sleep now and am feeling a lot better, so I decided to finish a chapter for you guys. And the moral of the story is, GET YOUR FUCKING SLEEP, KIDS***

Kirishima left around one that afternoon, to Bakugo's disappointment. If it had been up to him, he would have had Kirishima stay for the rest of the night, but he had to go to work, and Bakugo wasn't that much of an ass that he'd keep him from his job.

His original plan had been to just spend the day inside his apartment doing nothing, but evidently Deku had other ideas. About an hour after Kirishima had to leave, he got a call from him asking to meet up with him and a few others at a local buffet restaurant. He didn't particularly feel like going, but it was better than doing nothing.

So he got up off his ass and changed clothes, grabbing his black beanie on the way out. He liked wearing it because it kept his face slightly hidden, and therefore there was less of a chance of him being recognized. And especially now, that was the absolute last thing he wanted. When he made it to his car, he sent Deku a short text to let him know he was on his way.

They'd been to this particular buffet a million times, seeing as they'd been going since high school, and the way was practically instinct by that point. Bakugo's thoughts started to wander to Kirishima as he continued along the familiar roads. He wasn't going to lie; he would have much rather stayed at home with Kirishima instead of going out with Deku. He made a mental note to text him later and ask where he worked at, so that he could visit him at some point.

He almost drove right past the restaurant while preoccupied with his thoughts. Trying to force thoughts of Kirishima out of his head, he pulled into the parking lot and got out, spotting Deku talking with Half and Half in front of the doors. With them was a girl with short, brown hair, another girl with long, dark green hair, and a guy with square glasses and a dark undercut. Bakugo recognized them as Deku's friends, though he could never remember their names. He just called them Round Face, Kermit, and Four Eyes.

Deku noticed him first, and turned to face him with a warm smile. "There you are, Kacchan! Thanks for coming!"

"Whatever," Bakugo readjusted his beanie so that it hid more of his face. "Not like I had anything else to do."

If any of them didn't like his grumpiness, they didn't say anything as the small group headed inside the restaurant. After a short scuffle over who was going to pay, Half and Half ended up paying with a wallet Bakugo happened to know wasn't even actually his, but his father's. Afterwards, they all got their drinks and headed off to grab food from the buffet tables.

Bakugo didn't feel much like eating, so he let them go and sat by himself, pulling out his phone. His eyes fell to a new message from Kirishima, which he immediately tapped to open and read.

**Hey, man! Again, sorry about having to leave so suddenly earlier. I can come back after my shift if you want?**

Bakugo was just about to start typing his response when he heard someone screech from across the room. He glanced up, intending to just see what the fuck was going on, but he froze when he saw the girl who'd screeched was looking straight at him.

"It's Ground Zero!" She announced unnecessarily loudly, waving her arm in the air while holding her cell phone in the other. "That's Group Zero over there! Oh my God!" She hurried over, too quickly for Bakugo to get up and make his escape. Het announcement had brought several other people in the same direction, and within seconds he was trapped in the swarm of bodies.

_Great, great, fucking great._ Just how was he supposed to get out of this one? Camera flashes blared every few.seconds, effectively blinding him and further blocking his escape.

"Group Zero!" One of the people shouted at him. "Is it true you beat a man to death? Why aren't you in prison still?"

"Is it true he was your best friend?"

"Is it true you only spent six months time?"

"Is it true that he made a recovery, or is he dead?"

"Ground Zero!"

"Ground Zero!"

"Mr. Bakugo!"

Finally, Bakugo couldn't take it anymore. He would explain everything to Deku later, but he had to get out of there. He stood up and forced the table forwards a couple inches, causing a few members of the crowd to stumble over each other. Their questions melded into one another until all Bakugo could hear was the frantic sound of their voices, but not a trace of the words they were actually saying.

"Move!" He growled, attempting to force his way through the crowd. It was difficult, but somehow he managed to stumble out of the thick of the crowd and made a beeline for the exit.

He could hear the people yelling his name and scrambling to follow him, but he didn't hesitate once as he headed for his car. He pushed the lock down the second he was inside, just in time for the crowd to start gathering at the windows, still calling his name and asking a million questions.

Glancing behind him, he saw there were even some people Stu enough to have gathered at the rear end of his car, so he couldn't even back out of the parking lot without running someone over, and then he'd really be in trouble. So he turned the key and let the engine run, trying to scare them away from the back. Thankfully, it worked, and as soon he saw an opening he put the car in reverse and drove off as fast as he could. They chased him a couple feet before finally giving up as he hit the main roads and sped away.

He drove for a couple more minutes just to make absolutely sure he'd lost them, and then pulled out his phone again, bringing up his conversation with Kirishima once again. There were already a ton of notifications filling his Twitter feed about the encounter, but he wanted to ignore them. He wanted Kirishima.

**No, fuck waiting. Give me the address. I'm coming to you.**


	9. 9

***Alright, so this chapter is gonna be a nice one. I keep saying angst is coming but it always turns out a lot less than I really want it to be. But y'all will like this chapter, I know it ;) Even if I don't like how it ended, because I was rushing. I'm hoping I can get some more angsty stuff, like real angst, in eventually. But...oh well. Anyways, before you read the new chapter, I wanted to point out that I have a new book! It is also Kiribaku, but it's based off of a short comic I saw by princebunbuns on Instagram. It was a Detroit: Become Human AU, and if you haven't played the game or watched someone play it, go do it, because that game was fucking amazing. I love the concept, and that comic inspired me soooo much I just had to write something for it. So I did. It's already published on both Wattpad and FF, and it's titled Blue Blood (which is a reference to something from the game), so please go check it out if that sounds at all interesting. Thanks, guys! And now the chapter!***

"Kiri? Hey Kirishima, dude, are you okay?"

Kirishima blinked, finally glancing away from his phone in order to make eye contact with his coworker and close friend, Tetsutetsu. He was smirking, a mischievous look in his gray eyes.

"Damn, man, you were really out of it for a while there." He grinned, showing off the shark teeth identical to Kirishima's. "So, who's the lucky girl, eh?"

Kirishima dropped his phone onto the surface of the break room table and waved his hands in front of him, shaking his head in a frantic attempt to deny his friend's claim. "I-It's nothing like that, man, I swear!"

"Uh huh, sure, okay. In that case, who's the lucky guy?"

"I-uh..."

"I knew it!" He laughed triumphantly. "Well, anyway, I'm proud of you, man. Finally getting yourself a guy after all this time."

"I told you, it's not like that!" Kirishima groaned, picking up his phone again. "Bakugo...h-he's just a good friend of mine. He wants to come down here to wait until my shift is over."

Tetsutetsu arched an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're friend zoning this guy, Kirishima. Because that's so not cool."

Kirishima clenched his fists, feeling his face heat up as he thought about that morning. "Come on, man! I told you, it's not-"

Tetsutetsu laughed. "Whatever you say, man. Well, my break is over, so I gotta get back to work, but good luck getting your man!"

"Knock it off!" Hr called, but Tetsutetsu was still laughing as he shut the door to the break room behind him. With a heavy sigh, Kirishima picked up his phone again and typed in the address for Bakugo. Once it was sent, he set his phone aside and draped himself over the table.

He shouldn't be thinking about what Tetsutetsu had said. He didn't like Bakugo in that way, did he? Bakugo was great and all, sure, but he was just a friend. Although Kirishima did have to admit he was easy on the eyes...

"Argh!" He slapped a hand over his face. "Stop it, Eijiro. Bakugo's your friend, nothing else. He'd never like you that way, so don't even think about it."

Before he knew it, his break was over, and he left the break room and went to go stock shelves. They'd just received a new shipment of DVDs, and it was part of his job to make sure they were placed in the right spot.

He was halfway through the box when he heard the bell on the door ring, signalling a customer had entered. He glanced over his shoulder, only to break out in a huge grin when he saw the familiar spiky blond hair and scowling face. He was staring down at his phone, and he looked more annoyed than usual.

"Hey, Bakugo!" He called, trying to be quiet enough so his boss wouldn't hear him, but Bakugo could. Sure enough, Bakugo heard him and looked in his direction before making his way over.

"So you work at some lame ass movie store?" Bakugo grumbled. "Whatever. When is your shift over, Shitty Hair?"

"I've still got another hour." Kirishima put another movie on the shelf. "Why were you in such a hurry to see me, anyway?"

Bakugo scoffed. "You seriously don't know yet?"

Kirishima frowned. "Uh, no? Should I?"

Bakugo rolled his eyes and brought out his phone again, searching for something and turning the screen around to show him. It was a trending topic on Twitter, and the first thing Kirishima noticed was the words Ground Zero.

It didn't take long for him to figure out what had happened just from reading a couple of the Tweets. Apparently, Bakugo had been spotted by a crowd of people at a local restaurant and had gotten swarmed. He ran off, and evidently decided he wanted to go to Kirishima to hide out for a while.

Kirishima had to admit, he was a little flattered by Bakugo choosing him out of everywhere he could've gone, although he told himself it was probably just the most convenient option. The closest, easiest option, and probably the one people wouldn't be expecting, too.

"Wow," Kirishima shook his head. "I'm sorry, man. I wish I could've been there to help."

"Give it a rest, Shitty Hair, I'm perfectly fine, besides being fucking annoyed. I can't even go out in public anymore without people jumping down my fucking throat about this shit. I'm tired of it. I wanted everything to be better after I posted the damn video, but it looks like that was just wishful thinking."

Kirishima wanted to say something, but Bakugo groaned and scuffed his shoes on the floor before he could. "Anyway, I'll hang around until your shift is done, and then we can go back to my place."

Kirishima knew it was a completely innocent comment, but it still sent his thoughts reeling in an entirely different direction. Bakugo, thankfully, seemed totally oblivious to the heat spreading over his face. He turned and walked off to browse the shelves before Kirishima could try and stammer out something in response.

When he was gone, Kirishima groaned and gave himself a small pinch. He forced himself to focus on the task at hand, pushing aside any and all thoughts of Bakugo for the time being. When he finished that box, there were two more to put away, and then he would be done for the day. He just had to wait until then.

He fell into the rhythm of work fairly easily, and it was easier since Bakugo didn't hang around him while he was working. Kirishima could still see him walking around the store, but he never spoke to Kirishima until he had completely finished.

As Kirishima was exiting the break room dressed in his normal clothes again, he suddenly appeared next to the counter, one hand stuffed in his pocket, the other holding a small plastic bag. "You ready to go, Shitty Hair?"

"U-Uh, yeah." Kirishima smiled as he closed the break room door behind him. "See ya later, Tetsu!"

Tetsutetsu waved back to him with a smirk as the two boys left the store. Kirishima ignored him. He was nervous enough as is after the way Bakugo had phrased his earlier statement, and he didn't need Tetsutetsu making it even worse.

Since they'd both brought their cars, they each drove back to Bakugo's apartment in their own cars. Kirishima parked right next to Bakugo's and they walked up to his apartment together, both of them silent. They were halfway up the stairs when Kirishima couldn't take it anymore and had to speak.

He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. "So, I'm...sorry about what happened, man. I wish I could've been there to-"

"You already said that, dumbass." Bakugo grumbled.

"O-Oh," Kirishima chewed on the inside of his lip. "Well, still. It wasn't cool of those people to do something like that."

Bakugo snorted. "You're preaching to the fucking choir here."

"I'm not just talking about the crowd!" Kirishima said. "I mean everything. People should be willing to look past what you've done in the past and look forward instead. I just don't understand why they can't see that."

They reached the top of the stairs then, and Bakugo paused for a minute, looking back at Kirishima just long enough for him to start getting nervous again. He could feel himself blushing, but tried to pretend it was just his imagination.

"S-Sorry, maybe that was a little too philosophical, huh? I was just thinking-"

"Stop," Bakugo said, and he did. Bakugo's expression was hard to read. He didn't necessarily look annoyed, but he didn't really look to be in a good mood either. Kirishima wondered if he'd somehow overstepped his boundaries. He was about to try and apologize again when he felt a warm hand grab his wrist and start tugging him along behind him towards the apartment.

Once they were inside, Bakugo let go of his wrist and slammed the door shut behind him, quickly turning on a lamp next to the couch. Then he lightly shoved Kirishima onto the couch, and he didn't try to fight him.

"Bakugo?" He asked, thoroughly confused. He was acting weird.

He sat down next to him, his face still impossible to read. He seemed to take a few seconds to think about how he wanted to say whatever it was that was on his mind before actually saying it out loud.

"I'm gonna do something." He said after a while. "If you want me to stop, just say something. Got it?"

"Uh...yeah, of course. What are-"

He didn't even get to finish his question before Bakugo had grabbed his wrist again, but this time he didn't stop there. His hand moved from his wrist to lightly grasp his forearm, and then he was leaning forward, and Kirishima realized what it was that he wanted to do.

His stomach started twisting itself into a giant pretzel, and his heartbeat got so fast he could feel it in his teeth, but he didn't want Bakugo to stop. He'd never really thought about whether he was attracted to girls or guys, and it had never really mattered to him either way since he'd never been involved with anyone like that before. But it was different with Bakugo.

That was why, when Bakugo's lips pressed against his, he didn't even think about pulling away. Not that he would have anyway, because something in his head told him that was right, this was meant to happen. He didn't want to fight against it.

So...he didn't. While Bakugo's kiss seemed tentative, when Kirishima started kissing him back, he was anything but tentative. He grabbed ahold of the front of Bakugo's jacket and returned the kiss in a way that could almost be described as aggressive. Before he knew it, he had somehow ended up pushing the fiery blond over onto his back on the couch, straddling his waist.

All Kirishima could think about was Bakugo. He didn't want anything else in that moment. And if this was wrong, well then, Kirishima didn't want to be right.


	10. 10

***So, I have a confession to make. I was 800 words into this chapter before I remembered how the last one ended. ...oops? By that point, I couldn't bring myself to scrap it all, so I decided to do some angsty stuff with indecision and shit like that, and eventually I have plans to introduce Kirishima's family. Now, Kirishima doesn't have any canon family members so far, so it'll all be made up, but expect angst. Lots of angst. I really love angst, can y'all tell? Anyways, new chapter!***

Bakugo had no recollection of falling asleep, but he woke up several hours later to the ringing of his phone in his pocket. It took a while to dig it out from under him since he had no intentions of moving Eijiro and waking him up.

By the time he'd managed to reach it, it had already stopped ringing. He checked the number, but it wasn't one that he recognized, so he assumed it had been a telemarketer or something. Annoyed about being woken up for something as stupid as that, he tossed it onto the end table behind him and laid back down, fully intending to go right back to sleep with Eijiro still lying on top of him.

Unfortunately, the moment he closed his eyes, his phone rang again. This time, the noise caused Eijiro to stir. He lifted his head and yawned, rubbing one eye while the other stayed shut. "Wh...What's going on, Katsu?"

"My fucking phone keeps ringing." Bakugo grumbled, snatching the device from the table and answering it. He opened his mouth to tell off whoever the fuck was calling him so much, but the person on the other line beat him to it.

_"This is Ground Zero, right? The YouTube guy?"_

Bakugo scowled, and sat up as Eijiro got off of him and sat down next to him, watching his side of the conversation with a concerned look on his face. "Who the fuck is this?"

_"You should be ashamed of yourself!" _A second took over the phone. _"You damn criminal! I don't understand why you were let out of prison! They should take you right back to your cell!"_

Before he could even get past his own surprise, the caller had hung up. Bakugo held the phone there, frozen in place, for several seconds before the realization finally hit him; somehow, his phone number had gotten leaked to the public

"Fucking damn it." Bakugo let his phone fall to the carpet and covered his face, fighting a stinging pain behind his eyes. "I don't know how the fuck it happened, but my number got out."

"Are you serious?" Eijiro gaped, and as if on cue the phone rang again, a completely new number this time.

Eijiro frowned and reached down to pick it up, declining the call and turning off the ringer. "We'll get you a new number, Kat. It's not a big deal."

"...I know, not like it hasn't happened before." Bakugo groaned. His number had been leaked before, but only once, and it was during that short period in time when a bunch of kids had gotten ahold of tons of YouTubers phone numbers and made videos calling them. A vast majority of them had been fakes, but Bakugo had received plenty of people calling him for a five minute video. He'd changed his number the second he realized what was going on.

"Good." Eijiro broke out in his signature toothy grin. "But, uh...I actually gotta go, man." His happy smile became apologetic. "I'm supposed to hang out with a few friends today."

Bakugo's mood, which had gotten significantly better after listening to him talk, suddenly plummeted again. Trying not to visibly pout, he huffed and crossed his arms. "Whatever. I...guess that's okay."

"O-Or you could come with us?" Eijiro offered, which actually surprised him. He really wanted him around while he was hanging out with his friends?

"You're sure?"

"Yeah! I think it'd be great!" His grin returned. "They'll love you!"

Bakugo scoffed. "Somehow I doubt that." His personality wasn't exactly one that made people enjoy his company. Eijiro was just the weird exception.

"Oh, come on, Bakugo! Please?" Eijiro put this cute little pout on hia face, and Bakugo couldn't find it within himself to say no to him after that.

He sighed, uncrossing his arms and getting to his feet. "Fine, I...I guess I can go with you and your friends. But don't expect me to act all friendly and shit."

"Of course not." Eijiro laughed. "I wouldn't ask you to act like somebody else. It's not right."

Bakugo huffed again and started for his bedroom, working out a crick in his neck as he walked. "If you need a change of clothes, you can always borrow some of mine. If you want to, I mean."

"Really? Thanks!" Eijiro hopped up and followed him to the bedroom so they could both find clothes to wear for the day. When he'd found some for Kirishima, they both changed, and Bakugo took both their clothes to the washing machine before he could object.

After starting the washer, he stayed a bit longer than necessary, thinking about everything that had happened. They'd still yet to talk about what had happened last night, and it was bugging him more and more the longer it remained unspoken. What exactly were they now? We're they still friends? Or something else? Or maybe even just friends with benefits?

Bakugo cringed at the thought. He didn't want that sort of no-strings-attached relationship, not with anybody, and certainly not with Eijiro. But he also didn't want to stay just friends, either. He groaned and rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on.

Maybe Eijiro wanted to forget about the whole thing. He hadn't even bothered to bring it up at all, which told Bakugo that he didn't want to talk about it. Did he regret it? But if he did, wouldn't he be desperate to get as far away from Bakugo as possible?

"...fuck." Bakugo grit his teeth and kicked the dryer to vent his frustration. "Fucking idiot, making me think about shit like this. Damn it."

Maybe it had all been some kind of weird, rage induced dream. He hadn't really kissed Eijiro, and Eijiro hadn't really kissed him back. Maybe it had all just been in his imagination. But even if that turned out to be true, Bakugo couldn't get rid of the urge to do it again.

He would admit it to himself, of course, but never aloud, and definitely not to anyone else. He liked Eijiro Kirishima, and there was a miniscule chance that Kirishima liked him back. But for the life of him, Bakugo couldn't think of any possible way to talk to him about it.

***Oh, would you look at that, a rushed, crappy ending. Shocking, am I right? Anyways, it legitimately took me all day to write this. Happy Black Friday, lovelies. Did y'all get any new merch? Lemme know, I did not because my mom is a cheapskate and refuses to let me buy anime merch if it's not Christmas or my birthday. I can't wait until I turn 16 so I can get a job and buy my own ridiculous amount of merchandise. Ahem, anyways, hope y'all had fun doing whatever, I'll see y'all next time, bye!***


	11. 11

**_I'm sorry it's been forever! I got busy for a while, and then I got Writer's Block for a long time, but recently I felt like being productive and remembered I had a half finished draft of Press Play waiting to be finished, so I decided to get myself to work on it. Hopefully it turned out okay. I hope y'all still enjoy it!_**

Kirishima and Bakugo made it to the park where he'd promised to spend the afternoon with Kaminari, Sero, and Mina. Bakugo tried to hide it, but Kirishima could tell he was somewhat nervous, and not just because of the huge elephant between them.

In all honesty, Kirishima didn't know what to think about what had happened between the two of them the previous night. He was confused. Sure, he'd liked it well enough, but he'd never imagined his tastes went in that direction. He had no experience with that sort of thing, and if he was being totally honest with himself, it kind of scared him.

He tried not to think about it as he and Bakugo made their way over to where he could his hear his friends' voices. He put a huge grin on his face and waved to them. Mina shouted something and jumped up from where she'd been sitting on top of the picnic table.

"Kiri, you're finally here!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and making him stumble backwards a few steps, directly into Bakugo.

Bakugo jumped back, and Kirishima immediately got the impression that he really did not want to be there. In an attempt to lighten his mood, he turned to introduce him to his friends. "Uh, guys, this is Bakugo. Is it cool that he's here?"

"Sure!" Kaminari agreed enthusiastically. He was laying on his back with his head hanging over one side of the picnic table, and his face was slowly turning redder and redder. Sitting at the end of the table and right next to him was Sero. Mina had been sitting on top of Kaminari's legs, but had stopped to jump up and hug him.

"We don't mind!" Mina said cheerfully, stepping around him to hold out a hand to Bakugo. "Hi there! My name's Mina Ashido, but call me Mina."

Bakugo didn't shake her hand, and his expression remained a scowl, but he mumbled a greeting. Mina was only put off for a second at his standoffish attitude. She smiled and pointed back at the other two boys still seated. "And those two are Hanta Sero and Denki Kaminari. It's nice to meet you!"

"Sure," Bakugo grumbled, and they all sat down at the picnic table, Mina reclaiming her seat on top of Kaminari's legs. They hadn't decided to do anything in particular, they just agreed to meet up and hang out. Surprisingly enough, Bakugo seemed to fit right into their little group, despite the just how different he was from the rest of them. And not once was the subject of Bakugo's drama with YouTube brought up.

Before they knew it, two hours had passed, and Sero and Kaminari both had to leave for work. Kirishima suggested the rest of them go out to eat before parting ways, and they both agreed. So they all headed together to a small, 50's style diner around the corner, a favorite of Kirishima's friend group.

They got a booth near the back of the room, Mina on one side and Kirishima and Bakugo on the other. Bakugo pressed himself into the corner, scrolling through his phone while Kirishima and Mina talked, deciding what they wanted.

The waitress came over and took their drink orders, and finally Bakugo set down his phone. His scowl had deepened, and Kirishima assumed that he must have seen or read something online about his problem.

"Hey, Bakugo!" He called, getting the grumpy blond's attention.

"Yeah?"

"You know what you wanna eat yet, dude?"

Bakugo pursed his lips, and Kirishima saw his eyes flick briefly to Mina before returning to him. "Get whatever, I don't really care."

Kirishima frowned. He was worried about Bakugo, and not just because of the problems with his status. They needed to talk about what had happened between them the previous night, and they needed to do it soon. Except...Kirishima didn't want to talk about it. The mere thought of it scared him.

It wasn't that he thought Bakugo didn't like him in that way. As a matter of fact, he was sure that he did, considering he had been the one to initiate the kiss and all. But Kirishima was scared. He'd never been in a relationship before, let alone one with someone of the same gender as him. He didn't know what to do with himself.

Kirishima turned back to Mina, making a mental note to try and ask her for advice about it later. She had probably already caught onto the fact that there was something between them. It was Mina, after all, and she had always been crazy perceptive like that. He was sure that she could tell him something that would help.

When the waitress returned, Kirishima placed orders for him and Bakugo and Mina ordered for herself. Bakugo didn't eat much, and by the time they had finished eating and parted ways again, Bakugo still hadn't spoken a single word. He left first, only giving a small wave to Kirishima before walking off.

Kirishima watched him go with a frown until a sharp elbow to his side caught him off guard, making him yelp. Mina grinned at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I think I know what's going on here. You like him!" She sang, jumping up and down with that big grin on her face.

"I-I...I'm, well...l-look, Mina, can we talk about this somewhere else? I-I don't really feel comfortable talking about this out in public."

Mina stopped jumping and nodded,grabbing Kirishima's hand and practically sprinting down the sidewalk. "Yes! Let's go back to my apartment, and you can tell me all about your new friend!"


	12. 12

**_Once again, I apologize for my inconsistency when it comes to updates. Honestly, my only excuse is that I just haven't been feeling all that inspired to write this. I'm thinking about ending it at around 20 or so chapters, maybe even 15 depending on what I end up writing for the next couple chapters. It will end once Kiri and Bakugo make things official, so don't worry, that's coming. Promise. But in the meantime...I have some angsty shit planned. PS: I've already said this once, but Kirishima doesn't have any canonical family, so I'm making them up, and take my word for it when I say it's not for something heartwarming. And a quick thank you to ProtoTypeBK for helping me come up with names. And now here's the chapter!_**

Mina lived by herself in an incredibly small studio apartment only a few miles away from the diner where they'd eaten lunch. It was small but cozy, and Kirishima always loved visiting her. Everywhere you looked there was a bright color, mainly pink and yellow, Mina's favorite colors. The wall above her bed was plastered with tacked up pictures of her and her friends, as well as a poster of an alien posing with a cat and a dog. Mina was weird, but Kirishima loved having her as a friend.

Mina only stopped to unlock the door before dragging him inside and forcing him to sit down on the bright yellow bean bag chair in front of her television before heading for the small kitchenette. "You want something to drink?"

"Water's fine. Thanks, Mina."

"Don't mention it." She said as she returned from the kitchenette, plopping herself down on the loveseat and handing him a bottle of water. Then she sat forward, eyes focused on him. "Okay, now tell me everything."

So he did. He started with the video he'd uploaded that had started everything, and went through every detail of their relationship since, even the awkward happenings of the previous night and that morning. Mina listened to everything without even hardly blinking, totally enraptured in his story. By the time he was finished, he was out of breath. He hadn't realized just how badly this was eating at him until he finally got the chance to get everything off his chest. It felt nice to vent about it all.

He chugged the rest of his water bottle and leaned back into the bean bag chair. "That's everything. I just...I don't know what I'm supposed to do next. We kissed, yeah, but does that mean anything? I mean, Kami's kissed loads of people, but I don't think he's dated all of them, a-and just because we kissed doesn't automatically mean we're dating, right? Because--"

"Kiri, chill!" Mina covered his mouth with her hand. Kirishima pursed his lips and she removed her hand, cupping her chin in her palm.

"This is quite the situation." She commented, more to herself than to him. Then she smiled and clapped once. "Ooh, I have an idea! Why don't you try going on a date!"

"A...date?" Kirishima rubbed his neck. "I...dunno, Mina. Bakugo's not really a date kind of guy."

She shrugged, reaching for a pink throw pillow and hugging it in her lap. "It's worth a shot. Invite him to dinner or something like that, just somewhere both of you would be comfortable. And talk about what you both want. You have to communicate for a relationship to function, Kiri."

"I know." He sighed. "But Bakugo's not exactly the type of guy who communicates well, and he has problems of his own--" Kirishima cut himself off as his phone began to buzz in the pocket of his jeans.

Mina stood up and came to lean over his shoulder as he dug it out and checked the caller ID. The moment he saw who was calling, however, his stomach started twisting itself in knots. "Why does he want to talk to me?"

Mina returned to her beanbag chair, her happy expression from before now considerably diminished. "You haven't talked to him in a few years now, right?"

"Not after he got remarried." Kirishima nodded, taking a deep breath to steel himself before he tapped the green answer button and held the phone up to his ear. "Uh, hey...Dad."

_"Eijiro,"_ his father's voice sounded exactly the same as he remembered; rough, gravelly and stern. _"What are you doing, son?"_

"Uh...I'm hanging out at a friend's house."

_"You don't have work?"_

"No, I have Mondays off."

_"Mm. And that other thing you do? With the videos? How has that been doing?"_

Kirishima flinched. The last thing he wanted to talk about with his father was his YouTube channel. He had never been supportive of it, and was probably only asking now to look for something to complain about to him. "It's...good. It's been going really well here lately."

_"That so?"_

"Dad, why are you calling me?" He was already to his limit when it came to dealing with his father.

_"Right. Well, your mother--"_

"Don't call her that." Kirishima couldn't help getting defensive. "Kayako is not my mother."

_"__Right. Well, Kayako was wondering if you would come home for Christmas this year."_

"Oh, uh..." He subconsciously rubbed at the back of his neck. "I-I dunno, Dad. Christmas is still, like, a month away."

_"You should come home. Your sister misses you, and I your brother's coming too."_

"...I'll think about. Bye, Dad." He hung up before he could say anything else and flopped back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling.

"What was that about?" Mina asked after a few minutes had passed. Kirishima rubbed a hand over his face and sat up, setting his phone aside.

"He wants me to go back for Christmas." He told her. "I don't know if I can do that, Mina. I don't know if I can be around him after everything that happened before. But at the same time, it doesn't feel right to ignore all of them just so I can avoid him. I don't want to ignore Eitaro and Tamiko over something so petty."

"Okay, first of all, it's not petty. Based on all the things you've told me, the way you feel towards your dad is totally justified." Mina hopped to her feet and moved to wrap her arms around his neck in a tight hug from behind. "And second of all, at the end of the day it's still your decision."

Kirishima sighed. "Thanks, Mina. I think I'm gonna head home now. I'm tired, and I need to think on this some more before I decide on anything."

She grinned. "Of course! And you know I'm always a phone call away, sweetie!"


	13. 13

When Bakugo made it back home, he was in a bad mood. He shut his phone off and wrote a note to remind himself to get his number changed as soon as possible. Then he took a scalding hot shower. For some reason, he figured the hotter the water, the easier it would wash away his frustrations. By the time the water ran cold, he was still thinking about everything. The hot water had done absolutely nothing to stop it.

After that was done, he sat down at his computer and decided to check his emails. He kept three email addresses all for different reasons. First, he had a personal email, the one only his friends and family knew of. Then, he had a public email and a business email, which were for fans to contact him or for business purposes. He decided to check his personal email first.

That account was filled only with emails mainly from Deku and his mother, so he finished with it rather quickly before moving onto his business email. It had been completely spammed by people, some of them companies he'd previously done sponsorships with, but most of them fans who'd decided to use that email instead of the other one. He tried to push down the building frustration, ignoring the hate messages before finally moving onto the one he dreaded the most; his public email.

Unsurprisingly, it had received the most emails out of all of them, numbering in the five thousands at least. Bakugo didn't bother to check exactly how many. His pulse roared in his ears, and he grit his teeth, reaching up to slam his finger on the monitor's power button. The screen turned black. Bakugo pushed away from the desk and stormed into the living room, angrily pacing the floor behind his couch.

What should he do, he wondered. He didn't want to record, not with the state of his channel at that moment. He could try and contact some of those companies from before, but that would require him to turn his phone back on, and he really wasn't up to deal with anymore people calling him to badmouth him. And of course, there was always the option of seeing Kirishima...but he didn't know if he was ready for that, either. After what had happened between them, he thought it might be better for them to remain apart until they had both decided on what they wanted.

Just as he was about to throw himself face down on the couch, there was a knock on the door to his apartment. Bakugo froze, silently hoping that it wasn't Kirishima at the door. He knew for a fact that he wasn't ready to talk about them just yet. He trudged to the door and looked through the tiny hole before breathing a sigh of relief. Instead of spiky red hair, he saw only inherently messy green hair. It was Deku, coming to check on him and make sure he was okay. That was just like him, the damn nerd.

With a sigh, he opened the door. Deku smiled, holding up a plastic bag. "I brought spicy ramen! Your favorite!"

"Tch," Bakugo spun and headed back to the living room, sitting down on the couch while Deku shut the door and took his shoes off. "What are you doing here?" He grumbled, even though he knew exactly why he was here.

"To check on you, of course. You've been acting weird for a few days now, and you didn't answer any of my texts or calls today."

"My number got leaked go the public again, so I turned my phone off and left it in my room. I'll get the number changed tomorrow."

"That's good." Deku made his way to the kitchen, having been in the apartment multiple times before. He was Bakugo's only real friend, after all. Well, before Kirishima entered the picture at least.

As if sending his thoughts, Deku spoke up from the kitchen while he prepared the food he'd brought. "So, how are things with Kirishima?"

"Fine," Bakugo lied, propping his feet up on the table and snatching up the TV remote. He started randomly flipping between channels, not really caring to watch anything but thankful for the distraction. "Everything's fine, Deku."

"You can't lie to me, Kacchan. Something happened."

Bakugo scowled at the TV listings. He didn't really want to talk about this with anyone, but if he had to, he supposed Deku was probably the best person for it. Sure, they'd had their differences in the past, but they were friends now. Deku could help him figure out what to do. So he sighed and turned the TV off again just as Deku was finishing up in the kitchen. He came and sat beside him on th couch, handing him a bowl of steaming ramen and a pair of chopsticks.

"We may or may not have...kissed." he mumbled before taking a bite of ramen. It was store bought, probably from the convenience store just down the street, but it was good and it was spicy, just the way he liked it.

"Really? Kacchan, that's great!" He exclaimed, but the smile faded when he saw Bakugo's expression. "Oh...I guess something went wrong?"

"Not necessarily." He shrugged. "I was having a really bad day, so he offered to come back to the apartment and hang out to cheer me up. But once we made it back...I dunno, Deku, something just changed. One second he was just talking, and the next all I wanted to do was kiss him and kiss him until the fucking sun came back up."

He hadn't realized he'd said that aloud until he glanced over at Deku, only to see him smirking. He swallowed the food in his mouth before glaring at him. "The fuck is that face for, huh, Deku? Why do you look so damn smug?"

"I never thought I'd see the day when you got a crush, Kacchan." He laughed.

"Oi, shut the fuck up! It's not a stupid crush, you idiot!"

Deku laughed again and shrugged, taking a bite and chewing obnoxiously slowly. "I've known you since we were babies, Kaccahn, and I've never once seen you act like this towards another person. I think you should try to go for it with him."

His irritation melted away in a few seconds. "Y-You seriously think so?" Deku nodded.

"Yeah, I do. I mean, if he didn't like you back, then he wouldn't have let the kiss happen, right? You just have to talk to each other."

Bakugo stared at his bowl for a few minutes before taking a deep breath and grinning. "You know what, you're fucking right. I don't wanna sit here and wonder I he wants a relationship or not, I want to know, damn it!"

Deku smiled. "There you go, Kaccahn. That's much better. I can't wait to see you and Kirishima as a couple."

"Oi, shut up! I haven't even talked to him yet, damn nerd!"

**_Sorry for another crappy filler! I wanted to do a Bakugo POV, but I realized about halfway through that the part would have to be Kirishima's POV in order for it to not be a filler, at least the way I'm planning for the next few chapters to play out. So I decided to do some platonic BakuDeku instead. I love platonic BakuDeku so much, guys xD Anyways, hopefully the next chapter will be more eventful. And until then, see ya!_**


	14. 14

**_Oh hey, would you look at that, I'm not dead. I know, it's shocking. Anyway, I'm sorry for the wait...again. I was working on coming up with a plot outline for the rest of this book, and I think I've got the majority of it planned out now. The angst won't be all that bad, so you don't have to be too worried about getting your hearts broken. Maybe. I guess that just depends on you personally, hahaha. And in the meantime...the long-awaited update! (EXTRA: This was actually posted on Wattpad several weeks ago, but I forgot to post it on FF...whoops. I only realized when I went to post chapter 15 here and saw that there was no chapter 14. But it's fixed now, so enjoy!)_**

Kirishima didn't even bother to change clothes once he arrived back at his apartment, instead opting for collapsing into his bed and burying himself underneath the covers. He used his toes to kick off his shoes and rolled over, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to think of absolutely anything except for his conversation with his father. It was just like him to call at such a weird time in his life. He had enough to think about with Bakugo and the feelings he had for him without all those memories from the past coming back.

He didn't know for sure how long he laid there, focusing on remembering the names of all his high school teachers just to avoid thinking of anything else. He was just beginning to drift off to sleep when the shrill ringing of his phone startled him back to reality. He flinched, immediately thinking it was going to be his dad again, but when he dug the device out from his pocket and checked the caller ID, he was relieved to see that it was Bakugo.

He moved to tap the answer button but stopped with his thumb hovering just above it. Was he honestly ready to talk to Bakugo yet? He wasn't sure, and he didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him off after he'd worked up the courage to call him first. He frowned and quickly tapped the decline button before he could think better of it, turning down the volume and setting the phone down on his nightstand before tugging the blankets over his head.

"I'm sorry, Bakugo." He mumbled to himself, squeezing his eyes shut again. "I just can't do this right now."

Days passed, and Kirishima fell into a repetitive routine. Wake up in the morning, get ready for work, drive to work then head home, eat, record, sleep. He hardly looked at his phone more than a couple times the entire time, and when he did he usually out it down again, still not feeling up to responding to his messages.

The only part of his life that seemed to be going well was his YouTube channel, and even that was iffy. After word had gotten out that he was supporting Ground Zero, the haters began targeting him as well. For the most part, he ignored them, but occasionally there were one or two messages he received that really got under his skin. He would lay in bed, tossing and turning for hours, mulling over the exact words and phrases they'd used. Of course, deep down he knew they were all ridiculous and that none of it was true, but that didn't stop his mind from wandering to places it would've been much better off ignoring.

His new routine lasted about a week. Bakugo had yet to call or text him again since the first time, making Kirishima feel even worse about declining his original call. By Sunday, he was almost positive that Bakugo was so mad at him that he had decided to cut off all contact with him and never think about him again. Thankfully, that night, his thoughts were proved wrong.

Sunday night, after he had finished recording and editing a video for the next day, there was a knock on the door to his apartment. He yawned and checked the time. It was almost eleven-thirty at night. Who could possibly be visiting him so late? He decided to answer it anyway, not wanting to seem rude. So he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and headed for the door.

He opened it just wide enough to glance out and saw a mess of ash blond spiky hair that he immediately recognized. His heart jumped up into his throat, and all the fatigue left his body at once. "Bakugo?" He asked in surprise, opening the door the rest of the way. Sure enough, it was him. His hair was just the same as it always was; unruly and spiky in all directions. He wore a simple orange hoodie and jeans with black tennis shoes. He was carrying a plastic bag in one hand, and he wouldn't look up from the floor.

"What are you doing here?" His voice seemed dangerously unsteady. Come to think of it, Kirishima wasn't even sure he'd ever told Bakugo where he lived.

"I just wanted to see you." He shrugged his shoulders lamely and awkwardly lifted his head just enough to glance at him through his eyelashes. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure, of course." Still a little in shock, he stepped aside to allow Bakugo to enter. He did, setting the plastic bag down on the kitchen counter as he passed and then standing there beside it, looking like he felt out of place.

"Do you want something to drink?" Kirishima asked, heading for the fridge. "I've got tea, milk, lemonade--"

"I'm fine," He sighed heavily. "Thanks."

Kirishima nodded, closing the refrigerator door and taking a seat at the small round kitchen table. "So, how exactly did you find out where I lived? I don't remember telling you."

"I happened to run into that pink friend of yours. She told me where you lived."

"Mina told you?"

Bakugo nodded. "Yeah, she said you hadn't been talking to her or any other of your friends, so she asked if I would check on you in person. It wasn't like I had much else to do, so I said yes."

"She didn't...tell you anything else, did she?" Kirishima scratched at a small stain on the table. "Like the reason why I haven't been talking to them lately?"

Bakugo shook his head and Kirishima let out a breath of relief. He hadn't been entirely sure if she would tell anyone, what with how much she loved gossiping and all, but she'd kept his secrets after all. He was so glad to have someone as great as Mina as his friend.

"Is it because of me?" Bakugo blurted out after another few minutes.

"Wh-What? What are you talking about?"

"Is it because of me?" He repeated, stomping over to the table and leaning down until they were eye level. "Are you ignoring your friends because of what happened between us that night?"

"No! No no no, it's...it's not you. It's something else entirely, so...don't worry about that, okay?"

Bakugo didn't look entirely convinced, but he sighed and sank down into the chair across from him anyways. "Whatever. You don't have to tell me. I get it."

Kirishima instantly felt bad. He didn't want Bakugo to think he didn't trust him. It was just that he would much rather just forget about the whole thing, and telling Bakugo the story would be just the opposite of that. But Bakugo had done so much for him, and it had originally been him that helped him out during those hard times, even if he wasn't aware of it, so maybe he deserved to hear the truth more than anyone.

"Wait!" He shouted in a small panic as Bakugo started to get up and head for the door. Without thinking, he lurched to his feet and grabbed onto the back of his hoodie. He must have used more force than intended because Bakugo stumbled backwards from the unexpected force and ended up colliding with Kirishima's chest.

He felt his face heating up and they quickly parted. Kirishima sat back down while Bakugo remained standing, hands shoved in his pockets. "Uh, I'll explain i-if you want."

He scowled in silence for several seconds before sighing and sitting down again. "Go on, then. I'm listening."


	15. 15

**_Funny story, guys. In the last chapter, I had to cut out the first half of this chapter because I forgot what my general word limit was. So if this chapter starts a bit weirdly, that's why. And it picks up in exactly the same place where the last one left off...because originally it was the following paragraph. Anyways, enjoy!_**

Kirishima looked down at his hands wringing together in his lap. "Well, you see...after you left the cafe that day, I went back to Mina's place and told her about everything that happened. We were talking about it when I got a phone call from my dad asking if I would come home for Christmas."

"Your dad?"

"Uh huh. My dad's not...well, he's the main reason I left home when I turned eighteen, and haven't ever gone back."

Bakugo's scowl deepened. "Don't tell me he--"

"He was never absuive, no...at least, not physically. I don't know really...he was always super strict about every little thing; a total perfectionist. If our grades slipped below an A, he threw fits that would last for hours. After my mom died, he got even worse. He started going out drinking and sometimes wouldn't come home at all. Because my older brother had already graduated and moved out, I had to stay home to watch my sister. One time he came back to the house totally wasted and, well...it wasn't pretty. He got a bunch of tickets and fines and stuff for reckless drinking, but he never did go to jail. My sister's around fifteen now, and she still lives with him there. He remarried this woman named Kayako, and since then he's gotten somewhat better I've heard, but...I don't know. I don't know if I can ever really forgive him for the things he did in the past."

Kirishima sighed and looked up to see what Bakugo's reaction was, but his face was relatively unchanged. He continued to scowl down at the tabletop for several more minutes in the silence that followed the end of Kirishima's story. He frowned, fidgeting in his chair as the awkward tension crept up on him.

"Um..."

"Do you ever talk to her?"

"Uh, who?"

"Your sister." Kirishima half expected him to add an idiot to the end of that statement, but he remained stone faced and completely serious.

"Well, not really." He sheepishly rubbed at his neck. "It's been a while, now that I think about it. But I still love her and my brother. It's just--"

"Your dad, right." Bakugo leaned back in his chair. "I'll tell you what, why don't you go ahead and go, and I'll come with you."

Kirishima started. "Wh-What? You want to go with me?"

He shrugged. "Why not? My parents are still out of the country and won't be back until after the New Year and Deku always spends Christmas with his mom and Icyhot, so I don't really have anywhere to go this year. I can be there for moral support or some shit. You can just tell them I'm a friend of yours who you invited when you found out I didn't have anywhere to go for the holidays."

Kirishima tried not to flinch at the word friend. He wanted so badly to switch topics and talk about their kiss, but at the same time he had absolutely no clue how to go about bringing it up. Instead, he asked, "Are you sure? It probably wouldn't be a very fun trip."

Bakugo snorted. "I kind of gathered that, Shitty Hair. I'm not offering to go with you to have fun, I'm offering to go with you for support."

"You don't have to do that."

"I want to, damn it." Bakugo leaned forward over the table, his eyes burning with some emotion Kirishima couldn't place. "I want to be there to help you."

Kirishima sighed. The last thing he wanted was to drag someone else into his family problems, and least of all Bakugo. The only person who'd known about it before he told Bakugo was Mina, and that was only because they'd been friends since middle school. "Okay, but...you can back out at any time, just so you know. I won't mind at all."

Not gonna happen." Bakugo said, and it was clear by his tone that that was the end of the discussion. He got up from the table and went to grab the plastic bag he'd brought with him. "I actually came over to ask if we could hang out and...maybe talk about...you know, if you're ready for that. If you're not, I get it, but--"

"Bakugo...I...it's not like I don't want to talk about it, but..." Kirishima awkwardly rubbed his neck. "I don't know if I'm ready to think about that yet."

Bakugo's lips were pressed together in a way that made Kirishima worry. "You're not...mad, are you?"

"Of course not. If you're not ready to talk about it yet, then I can live with that. I'll be waiting when you are."

Kirishima smiled. "Thanks. That means a lot." After a few seconds had passed, he took a deep breath and sprang up from his seat. "So...you wanna watch some movies or something?"

"Sure," Bakugo reached inside the plastic bag and brought out a package of Oreos and a liter bottle of Dr Pepper. "I brought snacks just for that reason."

"Aw, man, you really are the best." He grinned and started to go in for a hug before pulling back at the last second when he realized that could be taken in a different way. Bakugo noticed, but didn't say anything. Kirishima awkwardly cleared his throat and took the soda bottle. "Ah, you can go ahead and go pick out a movie on Netflix. I'll pour us some drinks."

"Right," Bakugo took the cookies with him into the living room and Kirishima went to the kitchen and gathered four cups. In two of them, he poured the soda, and in another two milk. Then he brought all the cups into the living room and saw that Bakugo had chosen an anime called _Attack on Titan._ "Didn't take you for an anime type of guy, Bakugo." He laughed, handing him his cups.

Bakugo sneered. "You ever watched this one, Shitty Hair?" Kirishima shook his head, and an almost sadistic smile spread across his face.

"Then you're in for a hell of a surprise."

**_Hello again! I had absolutely no clue how to write that scene. Whoops. Plus it was really short. Whoops. And I'm a shameless weeb, throwing in an Attack on Titan thing. No whoops there, that was totally intentional. Ahem, anyways, I hope you still enjoyed it! Until next time!_**


	16. 16

**_Hi, so it's been...like, forever. I apologise for that, but after posting the last part my life got very busy and now everything has literally just stalled right in the middle of it because of all this Coronavirus stuff. You know, someday like a year or so in the future, someone's gonna read this book and see this and think, "I remember that time, that was a hard time, I don't want to live in that time again." And I agree with you wholeheartedly, future reader. I wholeheartedly agree. _**

Several more days passed, and Kirishima fell back into his old, normal routine. He started talking to Bakugo again, and true to his word, there was absolutely no mention of the kiss, even if it was constantly on his mind. He wanted to wait until after the holidays were over to really think about it, so that way he could stop thinking about the issues with his dad and focus on Bakugo.

Speaking of his dad, the closer it got to Christmas time, the more anxious he became. He had still yet to tell Bakugo whether or not he wanted him to go with him, and it didn't help matters much that his dad kept texting him to ask if he was coming. And with Thanksgiving now only a few days away, he was more stressed about the whole thing than ever.

"Dude, are you okay?" Kirishima raised his head from the table in the breakroom at work to look up at Tetsutetsu, holding back a yawn. He'd hardly gotten any sleep the night before because his dad had been blowing up his phone until midnight. He nodded to Tetstutetsu nonetheless, lifting his arms over his head in one gigantic stretch.

"I'm fine," He said. "I just didn't get much sleep last night is all."

"Hey, if you need me to cover your shift I can." He offered.

"No, you don't have to do that. I told you, I'm fine. It's time for your break, isn't it? I'll get back to work." He moved to stand up and head back out, but Tetsutetsu walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll cover for you. Go home and sleep. Seriously, man, you look like a walking corpse."

Kirishima frowned and started to protest, but Tetsutetsu wasn't having it. He patted his shoulder and reached over to grab his clothes and toss them into his lap. "Go. Home." He repeated, enunciating each individual syllable of the word.

"Fine," He sighed. "I'll cover your next shift to make up for--"

"No, you won't." Tetsutetsu turned to leave the break room, pointing to the exit door with a small smirk. "Now get changed and leave."

"I'm starting to think you don't want me around." Kirishima mumbled under his breath, but Tetsutetsu ignored him. With another heavy sigh, he carried his clothes into the bathroom to change out of his uniform. When that was done, he hung up his uniform and grabbed his wallet and keys before making his way out of the store. Tetsutetsu gave him one last wave before he was gone.

He sighed, in no hurry to get into his car and drive off. What was he supposed to do now? It was too early to go home and go to sleep, but he felt too tired to do anything out of the house. He was still trying to decide while slowly heading towards his car when his phone chimed. He dug it out of his back pocket to check it. It was a text from Bakugo. Curious as to why Bakugo would be texting him now while he was supposed to be working, he quickly opened up the message.

**Shitty Hair, whenever you get off work, I need your help. Text me back.**

"What could Bakugo of all people need help with?" Kirishima muttered to himself, but he was already typing his response as he made it to his car and leaned against the driver's side door.

**I got off early today. What do you need help with?**

He got inside the car and started it, turning on the heater. He had just been reaching for the gear shift to pull out of the parking lot when he heard his phone chimed again. Bakugo had replied.

**Meet me at that grocery store that's closest to my apartment. I'll explain then.****Alright then, guess I'll see you there.**

He closed his messages and pulled up a search engine to find the store Bakugo was referring to. Once he was sure he'd found the right one, he set up the GPS app and pulled out of the parking lot. It was a short drive, and it didn't take long for him to spot Bakugo. He parked his car a few feet away and jogged over to join him in front of the store. "Hey, Bakugo. So what's this about?"

Bakugo's face remained impassive as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked inside. "I have to do some shopping, and I didn't feel like coming alone."

"Ah, I see." Kirishima hurried after him, grabbing a cart and leaning over it as they walked. "Shopping for what?"

"Thanksgiving," he answered shortly.

Kirishima raised an eyebrow. "You celebrate Thanksgiving here in Japan?"

Bakugo nodded. "It's weird. This guy I've been friends with since we were kids...his mom celebrates it every year and I've always been invited. This year was no different. I always try to bring something that I make myself."

"That's...really cool, Bakugo." Kirishima smiled. He felt like he might have just fallen for Bakugo even more.

Wait...what?

"Tch," Bakugo tossed his head to the side, but Kirishima was pretty sure he'd seen blush. "Whatever, I'm only doing this shit so I don't have to hear my mom nagging at me for being rude. Now help me find the ingredients I need or get out, Shitty Hair."

"Yes, sir!" Kirishima laughed, giving him a big salute before they both began their search for ingredients. Bakugo would explain what all he needed and Kirishima would go looking for it until they had everything. By the time they were done, it was dark outside. Kirishima helped Bakugo carry his bags out to his car before they parted ways for the rest of the night.

"Well, goodnight Bakugo." Kirishima said once all the bags were safely out away in the backseat of Bakugo's car. "Good luck making...whatever you're making." He turned around to go to his own car, only to stop as Bakugo called out to him.

"Oi," He glanced back over his shoulder. Bakugo was staring at him with both hands shoved in his pockets. "That thing with your dad. Have you decided yet?"

"Er...decided what?" He asked, trying to laugh it off by awkwardly rubbing at his neck.

"If you're going. If I'm going with you."

"Ah...right. That." Kirishima sighed, lowering his hand. "I...I'm still not entirely sure. I promise I'll let you know as soon as I do, though."

He continued to stare for several moments until, just when it was about to get awkward, he e finally huffed and turned around. "Fine," He opened the driver's side door before glancing back at me over his shoulder. "I'll see you later."

"Ah...yeah, see ya!" Kirishima called, but he was already in the car. He moved to the side of the lot as Bakugo pulled out, only giving him a single wave to acknowledge him again as he left. Kirishima watched his car turn onto the main road with a sigh before heading back to his car. He wanted to get home as soon as possible and the second he made it there, he was going to go straight to bed. He had done far too much thinking for one day.

**_This endings fucking SUCKS but you know what it's fine it's 3AM, everybody's in quarantine and it sucks and I'm tired and hopefully I'll be able to get to Blue Blood after this. I should also probably finish another part for Luminescence. I have way too many things to work on and they haven't even sent out our school stuff yet. Fucking great. Anyways...hope you enjoyed, assholes, I'm going to bed now. Goodnight 3_**


	17. 17

**_So, I decided to just skip ahead a couple weeks or so to avoid any more awkwardly written filler chapters. So, as of now, Thanksgiving has passed and there's now only a few days left for Kirishima to decide everything. Which will happen in this chapter so help me God. Also, this book is almost finished...just a warning. Enjoy! PS: I've said it before but I'll say it again, Kirishima does not have any canon family so I made them up. And ProtoTypeBK helped me come up with the names...like two months ago xD_**

More and more time passed and before he knew it, it was mid-December and with just a couple days left until Christmas, Kirishima had to make his decision. He was sitting on a barstool in his kitchen, staring at his dad's contact in his phone.

He had to call him. He had to call him and tell him his decision that day or else it would be too late for anything. The issue was he still hadn't made up his mind about going or not. He was still thinking about that when the image of his dad's contact was replaced by an incoming call. Kirishima half expected it to be Bakugo, but instead it was an unknown number. Frowning, he picked it up off the counter and pressed the answer button.

"Hello?"

_"Eijiro? This is you, right?"_

Kirishima furrowed his brows. "Wait...Eitaro?"

_"Well, would you look at that! He remembers me!"_ A familiar laugh filled his ears. It was his older brother Eitaro that had called him, and it felt like a dream. He hadn't spoken to him in so long.

"Of course I remember you." Kirishima said, feeling himself start to relax already. "How are you doing?"

_"I'm good, little bro! I started this great job and I'm dating a really awesome girl. So, what about you?"_

"Well...uh...work is going good, I guess."

_"So I've heard. I'm happy for you. And uh...what about your love life? Anything new there?"_

He blushed and was extremely thankful that Eitaro couldn't see his face because he definitely would have started teasing him for it. "Well...there's...a guy."

_"Oh? And who is this guy?"_

"He's just...I mean, at the moment...he's just a friend. But I do really like him. I think maybe even love him."

_"That so? Well, then I hope you're bringing this guy with you for Christmas."_

Kirishima froze. An awkward silence passed over the two brothers until Eitaro awkwardly cleared his throat. _"Er...sorry."_

"Did...he ask you to call me?"

A small pause. Then, _"Yeah. Sorry."_

He sighed. "No, it's fine. I was just thinking about this when you called anyway."

_"Well, if it's any help, I think you should come. I'm going to be there, and so will Tamiko. She really misses having you around, you know."_

"I know, believe me I do. It's just--"

_"Dad,"_

"Yeah...that."

Eitaro sighed. _"Look, I know you and him don't exactly get along, but he's trying, Eijiro. He's really trying. And at the end of the day it's still your decision, but I think you should at least give him a chance. And bring this guy. He'll need to know the rules before he gets permission to date my little brother."_

Kirishima smiled. "Alright...I'll go. I'll give him a chance to prove that he's changed. But...only one."

_"Attaboy. So I'll be seeing you there on Christmas Eve, right?"_

"...yeah. I'll be there. Thanks, Eitaro."

_"Anytime, brother. See ya soon."_

"Bye," He hung up and sighed, pulling up his dad's contact again. Before he could start overthinking it some more, he pressed the call button and held the phone up to his ear. He was going to be going home for the holidays.

* * *

"So this is where you grew up?" Bakugo asked as they stepped off of the train. Kirishima slung his bag over his shoulder and took a deep breath, looking around the station for a familiar face. Eitaro had said he would be waiting here for them.

"Yep. This is my hometown." His stomach was in knots, and he couldn't stop bouncing up and down on his feet. To anyone else, he might have looked excited, but he was actually beyond nervous. "My brother should be here somewhere..."

As if summoned, a familiar voice began calling out to them from the other side of the station. Kirishima glanced up and saw a man with shoulder length black hair and dark red eyes, wearing a lazy grin on his face and showing off the pointed teeth. It was Eitaro, although he'd gotten a lot taller since they'd last seen each other.

"Eijiro!" He called again. "That is you, isn't it? Man, you really do look different!"

"Uh, thanks?"

Eitaro laughed, coming to a stop in front of them. He was taller than them both, a fact which clearly bothered Bakugo even if the height difference wasn't that much. "I meant it as a compliment. You look good, little bro." And he reached out to pull him into a tight bear hug.

"Gah! Eitaro, let go! I can't breathe!" He gasped for air as Eitaro released him and turned to Bakugo.

"So you're the famous friend Eijiro went on on and about."

"Famous?" Bakugo grumbled, exchanging a glance with Kirishima, who quickly shook his head.

"Not in that sense." He assured him, watching as Bakugo visibly relaxed. "He just means it as a joke. Because I...um..."

"Because he spoke so highly of you, it's almost like you're a celebrity." Eitaro laughed again, and Kirishima and Bakugo exchanged another glance.

"Uh...right. Should we go now?" Kirishima chuckled, trying to break some of the awkward tension in the air.

"Sure!" Eitaro reached over and snatched the red bag from Kirishima's hand, tossing it over his shoulder and starting towards the exit. "Everybody else is at the house already. Dad, uh...he thought it might be better if I came to pick you up by myself."

Kirishima sighed. "That's fair. Thanks, Eitaro."

"Hey, what are big bros for?" He grinned and tried to ruffle his hair, but Kirishima ducked just in time.

"Aw, are you too big for that now, Eijiro?"

"I just don't want you to mess it up!" Kirishima protested, trying to ignore Bakugo's laughter behind him.

They arrived at Eitaro's car soon after. He'd driven the same old Jeep for as long as Kirishima could remember, and it looked exactly the same except for a few new scratches here and there. Kirishima and Bakugo got their stuff put away in the back and got in. And if the state of his car was any indication, Eitaro still wasn't a very good driver either.

Once again, Kirishima's memory proved correct seeing as they nearly got into two wrecks just on the way to the house. Kirishima could hear Bakugo muttering vulgar curse words under his breath from the backseat, but he didn't actually say anything to Eitaro. Kirishima was kind of grateful for that because the last thing he wanted was for them to not get along.

Far too soon than Kirishima would've liked, they were pulling into the driveway of his childhood home. Immediately, he felt the butterflies that had been flying around in his stomach begin to attack him viciously, pulling and twisting at his insides until he was sure he was going to throw up. His hands shook as they clutched at the seat belt digging into his neck. Eitaro glanced over and out on a serious face. "Hey...it'll be okay, Eijiro. He's not going to do anything, I promise."

Kirishima tried to nod, but the movement came across as stiff and jerky. Eitaro unbuckled and hopped out of the car, leaving Kirishima alone with Bakugo. He was still trying to calm his nerves when Bakugo suddenly sat forward and grabbed one of his hands that had been clutching at the seat belt for dear life. He turned around, eyes wide as he took in Bakugo's expression.

"You should listen to your brother, Shitty Hair." He said. "You came back here to give him a chance, and I admire that about you. You're a fucking great person, Kirishima, and I think your dad's a fucking idiot if he can't see that. If he still wants to be a dick to you, then we'll leave. End of story. I'll be here. It's why I came with you, remember?"

Kirishima took a deep breath and nodded, squeezing Bakugo's hand and giving him a small smile. "Yeah...you're right. Thanks, Bakugo. I really appreciate your being here."

Bakugo grinned. "Of course. Now, are ya ready to go in or what?"

"Yeah," Kirishima let go of his hand and reached for the door handle. He stepped out of the car, looking up at the house that had caused him so much pain and suffering before. "Let's go."


	18. 18

Eitaro was waiting for them at the front door. When he saw them approaching, he grinned and opened it, stepping aside to let them in first. Kirishima faltered slightly as he stepped over the threshold, for a moment panic setting in until he was able to shove it back down into the pit of his stomach. He was _going_ to do this. He wasn't about to quit now.

The house looked almost exactly the same as he remembered it. The only notable difference he could spot right off the bat was that there were more pictures lining the entryway wall. He recognized Tamiko even though it had been years since he'd seen her. Most of the photos were of her, but he saw some of him and Eitaro too.

He realized he'd been zoned out when voices started to sound from the living area. He tensed up, and suddenly Bakugo was there, placing his hand on the middle of his back. A silent show of support. Kirishima didn't know if he could ever express just how thankful he was for his support.

"We're back!" Eitaro called, hanging up his jacket and starting for the living room.

"Eitaro? Is he here?" A familiar girl's voice asked and then she was there, poking her head around the corner. Kirishima found himself floored by just how much she had grown since they'd last seen each other.

When he'd left home, she was only twelve years old. She'd still been in that awkward stage of life where you weren't quite used to your own limbs. She'd always been kind of awkward on her feet and gawky and far too tall for her age, but now she seemed to have grown into herself. She was still tall, but now she had the curves to balance it out. Her hair was just as straight and jet black as Eitaro's and his own natural color, but it was much longer. She broke into a huge grin when she spotted Kirishima and ran up to wrap her arms around him.

"Eijiro!" She exclaimed, practically buzzing with happiness. "I can't believe it's really you!"

"I-me either!" He laughed, awkwardly hugging her back. "You look different!"

Tamiko pulled back and smiled. "You mean I don't look like a twig anymore?"

"Uh, no, that's not what I-"

She laughed, reaching over to punch him on the arm. "It's cool. I looked like a twig, you can admit it." Her gaze drifted to Bakugo, who was looking more than a little awkward. However, her eyes widened in realization soon after looking him over, and Kirishima rushed to cover her mouth before she could say anything.

Instead, she said her exclamation into his hand, eyes still as wide as saucers. Bakugo was looking everywhere except for at her, his scowl so deep Kirishima worried it might become permanent. When he was sure she wasn't going to scream, he slowly moved his hand away. She pointed at him and stated bluntly, "You're Ground Zero."

Bakugo crossed his arms and met her eyes. "Yeah, and?"

"Ground Zero is in my house." Tamiko turned back to Kirishima and fake whispered to him. "You didn't kidnap him, did you?"

"What? No! Of course not!" Kirishima rubbed at his neck. "He's, uh...a friend of mine. We...worked together."

"Uh huh, okay." She was about to say something else when the rest of the family turned the corner to the entryway. Kirishima's smile faded, and without thinking, he took a small step backwards, towards Bakugo. He felt Bakugo's fingers lightly brush against his wrist, another silent assurance that he was there to offer his support.

"Eijiro," Akio Kirishima, his father greeted.

"Dad," Kirishima greeted back, forcing his voice to remain stable.

"It's...good to see you again." He said. "You dyed your hair."

"Yeah." Kirishima swallowed. The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife, which was probably why Eitaro picked that moment to break the ice. He clapped once, making everybody jump and turn to him.

"Sorry, but there's only one guest bedroom left." Eitaro winked. "The house isn't all that big, you know. There's only two spare rooms and, well, Asami and I-"

"Got it," Kirishima rolled his eyes and hefted his bag. "Well, let's go."

Eitaro nodded and started for the stairs. Kirishima and Bakugo followed him, both boys trying to ignore Akio Kirishima's burning stare on their backs as they went. Everything about the house was familiar to Kirishima, and he wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, there were lots of good memories of this house. He remembered all the holidays and birthdays he'd spent with his family here, happy. But he also remembered all the times his father had done horrible things in the exact same place.

"Here it is," Eitaro announced cheerfully, stopping in front of one of the rooms. It wasn't the room that used to be his, thankfully, and Kirishima imagined that had probably been done on purpose. "This is where the two of you will be staying."

"Thanks, Eitaro." Kirishima smiled as they walked in and set down their bags.

"No problem, Eijiro. Anyways, Kayako is making dinner, and it should be ready within another hour or so. At least, that's what she told us. If you want, you can come back downstairs and chat while we wait. I'm sure Dad would like if you did."

"I'm sure he would." Kirishima was unable to keep the venom from his tone. Eitaro sighed.

"Right. Well, we'll be downstairs if you change your mind." And with that said, he turned and left the room, heading back to the living room with the others.

Bakugo closed the door and pressed his back up against it. "That was downright painful to watch."

Kirishima gave a dry laugh. "You're telling me."

Bakugo scoffed and pushed off of the door, walking over to lay down on the bed and make himself comfortable. he propped his arms behind his head and crossed his ankles. "I'm not gonna interfere in your decision. If you wanna stay, I'll stay and if you wanna leave, we'll leave. It's your choice, Shitty Hair. But if it's any help, your old man did seem like he's changed from what you described to me."

"Yeah, he does." Kirishima sighed, sitting down on the bed right next to Bakugo's leg. "I'll stay for now and see how things go."

They ended up staying in the room until about an hour later, Tamiko knocked on the door to let them know that dinner was ready. The boys got up off of the bed where they'd been scrolling aimlessly through their phones and followed her downstairs to the dining room.

Everyone was already there, seated at the table. Kayako, the woman Akio had married after Kirishima's mother died, was just setting the turkey down in the center of the table when they sat down. Kirishima sat down in between Eitaro and Bakugo, with Tamiko across from him. There was a pretty girl with long, blonde hair sitting next to Eitaro, who Kirishima guessed was Asami. Akio was sitting on the opposite side, an empty chair next to him for Kayako.

"Food looks great, Kayako." Eitaro complimented, clearly still trying to break some of the ice. Kayako smiled as she sat down beside her husband.

"Thank you, Eitaro. I hope it tastes as good as it looks, then."

"Well, let's find out!" Eitaro grinned and started making his plate, which led to everybody else doing the same. The food was passed around the table until everyone had what they wanted and they started eating.

The silence was deafening. The only sounds were the clinking of silverware on the plates as they ate. Kirishima felt like he was going to explode, and the only thing keeping that from happening was Bakugo's hand on his arm. Just before he was about to lose it, Akio cleared his throat and glanced up from his plate.

"So, Eijiro," He started. Kirishima looked over at him. "How did you meet Bakugo?"

"We worked together." He said automatically. "We did a joint project together a few months ago and ended up becoming friends."

Akio nodded. "And...how is your work going? You weren't very specific over the phone."

"It's going well." He said. "I've even started looking into merchandising companies, and I've gotten a lot of sponsorship opportunities as well. I might be able to quit working at the movie store soon if things keep going good."

"I'm glad to hear it." The silence settled back over them like a weight. The rest of the dinner passed in the same awkward fashion, only the occasional small talk there to fill the silence. By the time everyone was finished, Kirishima just wanted to curl up in a blanket and dissolve.

His offer to help with the dishes was turned down by Kayako, who insisted that he was considered a guest and shouldn't have to help with cleanup. It wasn't very late, but he was exhausted after dealing with the awkward disaster that was Christmas Eve dinner, so he chose to skip out on hanging out with Eitaro and Tamiko in the living room and headed back to their room to call it a night. Bakugo followed behind him, sitting down on the bed while Kirishima went to the attached bathroom to get ready for bed.

When he was done showering and had brushed his teeth, he came back out and sat down next to Bakugo, who had been playing some kind of game on his phone. "I don't know if I can take this, Bakugo." He admitted. "We can't even talk to each other."

Bakugo paused his game and sat up. "If he wants to make things right, then he's gotta do it himself. Your only job is to be there to hear it."

"I guess you're right." He yawned. "Doesn't make it any easier, though."

"Anyways, Shitty Hair, I'm gonna go take a shower." He was about to get up but Kirishima grabbed his wrist before he could. "Wait!"

"What?"

Kirishima turned his face away to try and hide the heat spreading across his face. "What are we gonna do about...you know, the sleeping arrangements? I mean, I don't mind making a futon to sleep on the floor, so you can have the be-"

"Quit being so fucking stupid, Shitty Hair." Bakugo pulled his wrist free and rolled his eyes. "We can just share the fucking bed. It's not a big deal."

"Sh-Share the bed? But-"

"Look, it's not like we're fucking, so-"

"Bakugo!"

"Well, we're not, are we?" His face was probably the same color as his hair as he vigorously shook his head. Bakugo shook his head and threw his towel over his shoulder before traipsing into the bathroom. "You're a fucking idiot, Shitty Hair."

Despite his harsh words, Kirishima couldn't help but smile. He knew that Bakugo still liked him, and the feeling was definitely mutual, but he also knew that Bakugo would respect his feelings. But in the meantime, that didn't mean they couldn't have some innocent fun.

**_Okay, just to clear something up before y'all heathens go crazy, NO THEY DO NOT HAVE SEX AFTER THIS. ALL THEY DID WAS SLEEP IN THE SAME BED. GO GET YOUR HOLY WATER, PEOPLE. Ahem, anyways, we are realllllly close to the end of this book now! I'm planning to make the next chapter wrap everything up, and then I'll be writing an epilogue as well to make it an even 20 parts because ya girl's OCD as fuck. Hope y'all enjoyed! See ya next time!_**


	19. 19

**_Alright, everyone! This is the last *official* chapter! After this, I will be posting an epilogue for the sake of evening out the number of chapters and then that will be it! Press Play will be totally, officially finished. I am...very proud of this book. Of course, I will be going back and editing all of the chapters and maybe retconning some stuff, but overall the plot will remain the same. There are a lot of things I severely wished I had planned out beforehand *ahem* like the whole book, for example *ahem* but overall I am very proud of this book! My first completed Kiribaku fic! Anyways, thank you all so much for sticking around with my weird, random updates of erratically planned plotlines. I know it can be frustrating to deal with. So thank you guys! I really do appreciate you, even if I don't always respond to comments and such. But know that I do love each and every one of my readers! Thank you so much for always being there to support me! And now, without further ado...the chapter!_**

When Kirishima woke up the next morning to the loud, obnoxious sound of a wooden spoon banging on a metal pot, he couldn't help but smile. It felt nostalgic since that was what Eitaro used to do every year on Christmas morning. He guessed some things really didn't change after all. Bakugo, however, didn't seem to feel the same way. He was about to stick his head out the door and yell at him to shut the hell up before Kirishima stopped him.

They got dressed and headed downstairs together to join the rest of them in the living room. Everyone except for Kayako was there, and Kirishima assumed she was in the kitchen. Sure enough, she entered the room a few minutes later carrying a tray of muffins, which she set down on the coffee table before sitting beside Akio. As soon as everyone was settled and had gotten their food, Eitaro stood up and grinned. "Alright, let's get this show on the road, everyone!"

Kirishima thought back to all those Christmases he'd spent in this very same house. Every year, one of the kids had the task of handing out presents. It had been so long since he'd been here for the holidays, however, that he couldn't remember whose turn it should have been. But apparently it was Eitaro's job this year. He picked up random present boxes from the pile underneath the tree and began handing them out. Kirishima was a little surprised that there were any for him at all, considering how last minute he'd decided to come. But everyone ended up getting something.

Bakugo seemed slightly uncomfortable, but he didn't say anything. Eitaro was nearing the end of the boxes until he finally got to the pile that Kirishima had brought along with him. He'd gotten something for Eitaro and Tamiko both something, as well as Bakugo. When Eitaro called his name, he seemed surprised until he must have realized that it was from Kirishima. He accepted the box with a mumbled thanks and returned to watching the rest of them.

Once all the presents had been handed out, they started opening them. Tamiko went first while the rest of them watched, exactly the same way Kirishima remembered them doing it when he was a kid. She'd gotten a lot of stuff, mainly books and other things. She even received a few merch items from some anime Kirishima remembered her liking. He'd bought her a collector's edition of one of the books he remembered she liked before he left. He wished he'd thought to ask what she liked now instead of focusing on her interests from years ago.

After Tamiko, Eitaro went next. He got mostly clothes, as well as the T-shirt Kirishima had bought for him and a dog tag necklace from his girlfriend, Asami, who'd been sitting next to him the whole time. She went next, although she'd only received a few things, mainly from Eitaro. After her, Kayako opened her presents, then Akio. Then there were only Kirishima and Bakugo left.

"Well, little bro?" Eitaro grinned. "Go ahead!"

Kirishima glanced over at Bakugo, who gave a small shrug. He turned his attention back to the boxes and looked at the tags. The first was from Eitaro and Asami, who had bought him a big hoodie featuring one of his favorite bands. He was a little shocked that Eitaro had even remembered that after so long, so he was thankful. Tamiko had bought him a book from a series she liked. Kayako had even bought him a set of ties, something that Kirishima appreciated even if he doubted he would ever have a chance to wear them. But just when he thought his turn was over, Akio cleared his throat and sat forward in his chair.

"Actually...there's one more for you." He said. His voice was gruff, like he was right on the edge of tears. Kirishima frowned, watching as his father got to his feet only to kneel down right there on the floor in front of him and place his forehead to the floor.

Kirishima heard himself let out a little gasp at the sight, but he didn't remember consciously making the noise. His father...was kneeling at his feet. Actually, physically kneeling down, with his head pressed against the floor and everything. His eyes began to burn, and he raised a hand to cover his mouth.

"I'm sorry!" His father's voice shook, and it was slightly muffled by the carpet. "I can't ever apologize enough for the things I did in the past. And I don't expect you to forgive me either, but I hope you can at the very least acknowledge the fact that I know what I did was wrong. It was so, so wrong of me to put you through all that. And I'm sorry! I'm truly, truly sorry!"

Kirishima was definitely crying now, but he barely felt it. His father's back and shoulders were trembling as he spoke, and Kirishima assumed that meant he was crying too. Slowly, he lowered one hand down to gently tap him on the shoulder. He lifted his head up to look him in the eyes. Sure enough, he was also crying.

His throat felt much too tight to actually respond, so he just nodded. That was enough of a response for him to understand, however. This became obvious when his watery eyes widened and he nearly started sobbing again. Slowly and shakily, he rose on unsteady legs. Kirishima was the one to step forward and wrap his arms around him. His father seemed shocked at first, but quickly got over it and returned the embrace.

"Thank you," he said.

Akio shook his head, sniffing and hurriedly wiping at his eyes as they broke apart. The others were all watching the scene unfold, some with tears in their eyes, but Kirishima didn't even notice. "I should be the one thanking you, Eijiro. For...accepting a deadbeat like me."

"You're not a deadbeat." Eijiro smiled. "You were just lost is all. It's okay. It's in the past now."

Akio shook his head. "No. It's not okay, not yet. But...I'm hoping to make it okay. Someday. I'll do my best to make it happen. I just hope you'll be patient with me."

"Of course I will." He assured him. "You are family, after all."That afternoon, Kirishima and Bakugo were packing up their things to leave. Kirishima couldn't seem to wipe that damn goofy smile off of his face, but Bakugo definitely wasn't complaining. Ever since he and his father had made up that morning, he'd been in a good mood that seemed totally irreversible. Bakugo liked it. He liked seeing Kirishima so happy after seeing him feelings down for so long.

They were carrying their bags out to the car so Eitaro could drive them back to the station at the moment. Kirishima was humming some kind of tune as he piled their suitcases and bags in the trunk. When he finished, he closed the trunk and turned around to grin at Bakugo. "This was nice, right?"

"I fucking guess," Bakugo grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't about to tell Kirishima it had been his best Christmas in years. "You're awful happy."

"Of course I am! How could I not be?" He leaned up against the car and sighed happily. "I just...I feel so much lighter and carefree now that I'm not worrying about my dad anymore. Does that even make sense?"

"Duh," Bakugo moved to lean against the car beside him. "It was a huge weight on your shoulders for years. Of course you're gonna feel a thousand times lighter now that it's gone."

"Yeah, well..." Kirishima turned his head so that he was looking at Bakugo. Their close proximity started to make him flustered, and he tried to will away the red threatening to creep up to his face.

"Well, what?"

"Well...I was thinking. And I think I'm might be ready." Kirishima's face remained in that stupidly gleeful expression, but Bakugo blanched and almost tripped over his own feet.

"Wait...you don't mean--"

Apparently, he did mean what Bakugo was thinking. Because before he could finish his sentence, he had leaned in and roughly grabbed the lapels of his coat and tugged him forwards so that he could press their lips together. It wasn't their first kiss, but this time felt different. It felt more solid, more meaningful. It only took a few seconds for the initial shock to wear off and him to start returning the kiss.

Time seemed to meld together. Neither of them even registered the sound of the front door opening. At least, not until a new voice laughed and let out an extremely no loud cat call. They immediately broke apart, both of them blushing furiously, and not from the cold and snow. Bakugo was even redder than Kirishima. He instantly spun on his heel and stomped over to the car door, climbing inside and slamming the door shut.

Eitaro smirked at him. "That was one hell of a makeout session, little bro. Sorry for interrupting, but you two will kiss your train if we don't leave now."

"Yeah, yeah." Kirishima waved him off and headed for the passenger side door. Still laughing, Eitaro climbed into the driver's side to take them to the station.

**_Uh, so yeah. Hi. I'm not dead! Ahem, anyways, I'm sorry this took me so long to post! I didn't have any inspiration to continue this story for the longest time, but I had a sudden flash of inspiration for it so I took advantage of it and finished it. I'm also hoping to get the epilogue finished as well, so maybe expect two updates. And if so then congratulations because the epilogue will be the end of this story! Thank you guys so much for reading! And make sure to check out my other books and my oneshot compilation book! I love y'all!_**


	20. 20: Epilogue

**_Okay, so this is going to be a little short. Maybe around 500-700 words? I'm not entirely sure, but this is just to wrap up the original plotline that I, you know, kind of forgot about halfway through. Oops. It's also set about two months after the last chapter. Anyways, enjoy! And thank you all so much for reading and sticking with me to the end!!!_**

The heat of the ring light felt scalding hot after going so long without using it. Bakugo waited until he'd adjusted to press the button that would start the recording.

"What's up, fuckers." He started once the red light blinked on. "It's been a while. But I'm sure all of you assholes know why. I'm just glad all this shit is over. And now that it is, I have something important to tell you all."

He glanced over at the doorway and nodded. Grinning, Kirishima bounded over and practically threw himself over Bakugo's lap. Grumbling, he pushed the cackling redhead into his own chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He pretended to be annoyed, but he couldn't help but smile a little bit at the goofy antics of his boyfriend.

His boyfriend.

"Hi!" Kirishima was smiling and waving enthusiastically at the camera. "It's really nice to see that Ground Zero is finally back! I'm his--"

"This is my boyfriend." Bakugo couldn't hide the smile anymore, so instead he embraced it. He leaned back in his chair and smirked while Kirishima kept grinning like an idiot. An adorable idiot.

"That's right! I'm his boyfriend!" Kirishima continued. "My channel is pretty small in comparison to Ground Zero's, but you can call me Red Riot!"

"Anyways, I wanted to quickly introduce this idiot before I get into the details of what happened all those years ago. In the last video I made about this, I only explained the bare minimum. But if you're interested in hearing the truth, then stick around. If not, well...I guess you can just click off this video right now. But remember, this time I'm back for good. So make sure you come back in a few days so we can get back to how this channel was before this shit happened."

From there, he launched into the last explanation h vowed to ever give about the incident. It took a long time to get through the entire story, but Kirishima didn't once leave his side. He stayed right there in the chair beside him, hands clasped just out of the camera's view. His presence made it easier to get through it all, but he was still extremely relieved when it was done.

"And that's all of it." He sighed heavily. "I'm not going to be talking about this shit ever again. I'm done with it all. Some of you dickheads might not think so, but I've changed since then. I'm better."

"That's right!" Kirishima spoke up for the first time since Bakugo had started telling his story. He leaned over and pressed a quick kiss on Bakugo's cheek.

Flustered, he tried to push his face away, but Kirishima wouldn't budge. A few seconds later, they had both all but forgotten about the camera recording. It took Bakugo five minutes to manage to get the uncontrollably giggling redhead off of him. He rolled over onto the floor and kept laughing while Bakugo stared down at him, shaking his head but unable to stop smiling at him.

"You're a fucking idiot, you know that?"

Kirishima sat up and set his chin on Bakugo's knee. "Aw, but you love me!"

Bakugo shook his head again. "Of course I do, dumbass. I wouldn't out up with you if I didn't."

Grinning, Kirishima stood up and leaned down to press another kiss, this time on the lips. When he pulled away, he plopped back down in his chair, still laughing. Bakugo crossed his arms and grumbled. "I'm gonna have to edit that out, asshole."

"Aw, why?" Kirishima pouted.

"I can't let my viewers know I'm in love with a total dumbass. I have a reputation to uphold here."

"Aw, Bakugo!" Kirishima wrapped his arms around his neck and rested his chin on top of his head. "I love you too."

"Hmph," Bakugo closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of Kirishima's warmth. "I know."


End file.
